BIRODI: For 45 percent of Serbia’s citizens EU membership is the Most Acceptable Foreign Policy Priority

EU flag (Pixabay)

According to the findings of the Bureau for Social Research (BIRODI), 45.5 percent of Serbian citizens find EU membership the most acceptable foreign policy priority; 17.6 percent think that Serbia should join the Eurasian Economic Union, and little over a third of those surveyed believe Serbia should join neither the EU, NATO, nor the Eurasian union.

The Bureau has reported that only two percent of those who participated in the survey support both EU and NATO membership. The survey has also shown that those with only primary education generally place EU membership as Serbian foreign policy’s top priority, but the same group also favoring Eurasian membership (23.5 percent).

Surveyees with secondary education mostly believe EU membership should be the priority, while those with higher education, according to the poll, believe Serbia should join neither of the two unions.

“Statistically speaking, greatest support of EU membership comes from the eastern and southern Serbia, while those who are in favor of non-aligning are few. Residents of Belgrade are more in favor of non-alignment, but they are the least enthusiastic about Serbia joining the Eurasian union,” it says in the report.

Compared to other parts of Serbia, residents of central and western Serbia are more in favor of joining the eastern alliance, while in Vojvodina that is the case with EU membership.

“When it comes to the influence of media, those who watch RTS public service’s news reports believe Serbia should join the EU. It is the same with those who watch news reports on Happy TV and Prva TV. Surveyees who get informed via Pink TV news, from a statistical point of view, are less in favor of EU membership, that is, there are neither for the EU nor the Eurasian Union. The same goes for the viewers of TV O2, the former B92,” it says in the report.

Moreover, those exposed to TV N1 news are more than others in favor of EU and NATO membership, and are statistically less pro-Eurasian Union.

“Looking at the results, seven out of ten surveyees who were undecided in May 2019 are now for Serbia joining the EU. Among the voters of the Serbian Progressive Party, 45.1 percent is pro-EU membership, 29 percent think Serbia should remain neutral, and a quarter are in favor of the Eurasian Union. The results are more or less the same for the voters of the Socialist Party of Serbia, and the Movement of Free Citizens,” the Bureau has reported.

The voters of the Alliance for Serbia, according to the poll, are divided into those who are pro-EU (53.5 percent) and those who are for non-alignment (38.6).

The telephone survey was conducted by BIRODI  on two occasions from April 22 to 25, and from May 2 to 5, on the sample of 1006 citizens of Serbia, not including Kosovo.