ZAGREB, Jan 31(Hina) - Three quarters of Croatians have a positive opinion about the European Union, and 72.4 percent of citizens would vote for the country's admission to the EU, according to an opinion poll conducted from 4 to 19
December last year.
ZAGREB, Jan 31(Hina) - Three quarters of Croatians have a positive
opinion about the European Union, and 72.4 percent of citizens would
vote for the country's admission to the EU, according to an opinion
poll conducted from 4 to 19 December last year.#L#
The results of the survey, which has been carried out every six months
since July 2000, were presented in the Croatian Ministry of European
Integration last Wednesday.
Asked whether they would vote for Croatia's entry into the Union, 72.4
percent of respondents answered in the affirmative, Vlatka Kroflin
Fiser from the Market Research Centre told a news conference last
Wednesday.
The number of those opposing Croatia's entry into the EU and NATO
climbed from seven percent in the previous poll to 20.3 percent.
Commenting on the outcome of the polls, the new Croatian Minister of
European Integration, Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic, said a mild fall in
support of the integration into the EU was evident, describing the
drop as a normal occurrence. This trend was noticed in other countries
that joined or are joining the Union this year, she added.
According to the survey, 85.9 percent of respondents believe that EU
membership would bring the common market and open borders, and nine
out of ten Croatians believe it is very important for them to know how
Croatia's EU membership would impact the national economy.
Over a half of respondents (56.9 percent) believed that the membership
would mean the loss of the country's independence. Two-thirds
maintained that the EU membership would increase economic
competition.
(Hina) ms