The survey was conducted by the Austrian Society for European Politics in cooperation with the Paul Lazarsfeld Society for Social Researches.
Fifty-one per cent of Austrians are in favour of Croatia's accession to the EU while 26 per cent are against.
Twenty-seven per cent are in favour of the accession of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Bulgaria, while 43 per cent are against Bosnia's and 44 per cent against Bulgaria's accession. Twenty-three per cent are in favour and 47 per cent against Macedonia's accession. Twenty-three per cent are in favour and 51 per cent against Serbia-Montenegro's accession, while 21 per cent are in favour and 53 per cent against Romania's accession. Only 15 per cent are in favour of Albania's accession while 56 are against.
The survey also found that trust in the EU is the highest in Albania and the lowest in Croatia.
All seven states expect EU membership to bring more political stability while only Croatia expects higher economic growth, said Die Presse daily. It added that Austria would advocate their European ambitions and prospects at an informal meeting of the EU and the region's countries later this week but that Austrians did not care for that.
"It is a big paradox that Austrians, who will profit the most from future EU enlargement, are the most sceptical towards the admission of Southeast European states," Austrian Ambassador Wolfgang Petritsch, an expert on Balkan issues, said last night at the presentation of the survey's findings. He added that enlargement cost money but that non-enlargement to the east would cost even more because of the money that would have to be set aside for the region.