| Poll: 75 percent of Serbians in favor of EU |
| 31 January 2008 | 11:27
| Source:
Beta |
BELGRADE --
About 75 percent of Serbia citizens are in favor of Serbia joining EU, the latest public opinion survey shows.
According to the Strategic Marketing poll, only 16 percent of citizens opposed EU membership, eight percent had no opinion on the matter, while two percent refused to answer.
If Serbia were to hold a referendum today on EU membership, 73 percent would vote for, with 10 percent against.
Strategic Marketing official Svetlana Logar said that five percent would abstain and eight percent did not know if they would participate in the referendum, while three percent would not answer the question.
She said that an improvement in the standard of living and free movement were the first things Serbian citizens associated with EU membership.
36 percent of citizens associated it primarily with an improved standard, 23 percent with free movement, seven percent with stability and employment, and two percent with foreign investment.
Logar said that seven percent of citizens feared that they would end up being the EU’s cheap labor force, five percent believed that the EU would set conditions for Serbia, while four percent feared a loss of identity.
She added that 81 percent of citizens had a positive image of the EU, while 16 percent had a negative image.
Some 75 percent believed that the economic situation would improve if Serbia became an EU member.
At the same time, 73 percent believed that the standard of living would improve, while 68 percent believed that EU membership would help improve the level of social welfare.
Asked whether their families would have better lives if Serbia was an EU member, 68 percent said yes, 18 percent said nothing would change, and eight percent said that things would get worse.
The survey was conducted from January 21-23 with a sample of 1041 adults.
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