EUROBAROMETER: Support for Macedonian EU Membership Falling

22 December 2005

The support by the citizens of EU member-states for Macedonian membership in the European Union, which was never actually to big, follows a slow downward trend, claims Eurobarometer, EC�s public opinion research agency.

41 percent of EU citizens would like to see Macedonia into the EU, 42 percent are opposed and 17 percent didn�t express an opinion on that issue. Greater support was expressed for the integration of the Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia, while B&H (40 percent), SCG (39 percent) are below Macedonia. By far the least support is given to Albania and Turkey, with barely 30 percent support and over 50 % of the polled that are opposed.

The survey also shows that the support is much higher in the 10 new member states than in the original 15, although the support in the new member states is also on the fall.

In general, almost one half of EU citizens support the further expansion (49 percent), with 39 percent opposed. The countries with greatest support for the expansion are Greece, Slovenia and Poland, with over 70 percent. Austria, Luxembourg, France and Germany are the biggest opponents of the expansion, where six in ten citizens hold the expansion in negative view.