Serbs in favor of EU accession?

Serbs in favor of EU accession?

This is shown by a new public opinion survey conducted by the Ministry for European Integration.

If a referendum were held tomorrow with the question "Do you support Serbia's accession in the EU?", 43 percent of Serbian citizens would vote in favor of it, 32 percent against, while 13 percent would not vote at all, and 12 do not know how they would answer that question. This is the result of the latest public opinion survey "European Orientation of the Citizens of Serbia".

Two-thirds of respondents (65 percent) believe that the reforms necessary for our country's entry into the EU should be implemented, for the benefit of the citizens and the creation of a better Serbia.

When asked about non-reimbursed development aid to Serbia from 2000 to today, 28 percent of respondents recognized that the EU is the largest donor, followed by China, Russia and Norway.

A third of the respondents are aware of the fact that projects funded by the EU are being implemented in Serbia, and that percentage is even higher in border areas, where 48 percent of respondents know that cross-border cooperation projects are being implemented in their areas. More than 80 percent of them fully or partially agree to see concrete results of the implementation of these projects financed from EU funds.

According to 38 percent of the survey participants, both the state and they personally would benefit from Serbia's membership in the EU.

According to the opinion of 35 percent of respondents, large companies, industry, small and medium-sized enterprises would benefit the most, followed by health (11 percent), education (10 percent), and the judiciary and social protection (seven percent each).

On the other hand, 21 percent of citizens think that domestic agriculture will lose the most from Serbia's EU accession.

Citizens see the anti-corruption and reform of the health system (17 percent each), better protection of human rights, reform of the education system (12 percent each) and reform of the judiciary (11 percent) as the most important and as those that have the most impact on their daily life. Next in importance to them are the improvement of agriculture (11 percent) and better environmental protection (10 percent).

For the largest number of citizens, EU membership represents the possibility of traveling within the EU (15 percent), more employment opportunities (14 percent), the path to a better future for young people (13 percent), but for 13 percent of respondents, it also represents the risk of losing their own cultural identity.

A large number of citizens (41 percent) expressed their willingness to, if it is for the purpose of joining the EU, change their current lifestyle, such as to start separating garbage for recycling, to pay a deposit for PET packaging, to save energy and water. A third states that they would be ready to change their work habits, primarily working hours, length of vacation, and benefits at work.

When asked what kind of social system they would like to live in, citizens first cite Switzerland (25 percent), followed by Germany (20 percent) and Norway (14 percent) as a model.

1,050 respondents over the age of 18 took part in the survey, on the territory of Serbia, excluding Kosovo and Metohija, according to the Eurobarometer standard, the Ministry announced.