Poll: 48% in favor of EU membership, 33% against

BELGRADE A new poll has shown that Serbia's bid to join the European Union now has the support of 48 percent of the population, Beta news agency is reporting. At the same time, 33 percent oppose that idea, the Ipsos Strategic Marketing survey, presented in Belgrade on Monday, revealed. Poll: 48% in favor of EU membership, 33% against A growing number of Serbians believe the country to be farther from EU accession today than it was one year ago, while only a third think that the process had advanced, reporters also heard. Most of the people polled, 70 percent, believe the EU will set new conditions for Serbia's membership in the future. Head of the EU Delegation in Serbia, Vincent Degert, said it was well known what Serbia had to fulfill to join the EU and that there would be no new conditions. Degert said he hated the word conditions, explaining that the EU "was not introducing the conditions, that the Copenhagen criteria were the same for everyone, and that the Kosovo issue must be resolved before Serbia's accession to the EU", Beta reported. Compared to prior surveys, the number of people supporting the Belgrade-Pristina dialog has risen to 51 percent, while 40 percent of the Serbian population is against, a fact dubbed"encouraging" by Degert. When it comes to the general attitude toward the EU, the population in Serbia is divided. Only 31 percent of respondents said they had a positive attitude toward the EU, 36 percent have a negative stance and 31 percent are neutral. Beta

Poll: 48% in favor of EU membership, 33% against

A growing number of Serbians believe the country to be farther from EU accession today than it was one year ago, while only a third think that the process had advanced, reporters also heard.

Most of the people polled, 70 percent, believe the EU will set new conditions for Serbia's membership in the future.

Head of the EU Delegation in Serbia, Vincent Degert, said it was well known what Serbia had to fulfill to join the EU and that there would be no new conditions.

Degert said he hated the word conditions, explaining that the EU "was not introducing the conditions, that the Copenhagen criteria were the same for everyone, and that the Kosovo issue must be resolved before Serbia's accession to the EU", Beta reported.

Compared to prior surveys, the number of people supporting the Belgrade-Priština dialog has risen to 51 percent, while 40 percent of the Serbian population is against, a fact dubbed"encouraging" by Degert.

When it comes to the general attitude toward the EU, the population in Serbia is divided. Only 31 percent of respondents said they had a positive attitude toward the EU, 36 percent have a negative stance and 31 percent are neutral.