CESID Director: Majority of Serbian Citizens Expect No Personal Benefit from EU Accession

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Bojan Klacar, the director of the Center for Free and Democratic Elections (CESID), said on June 23 that Serbian citizens did not recognize any personal benefits stemming from the country's accession to the European Union, adding that the media and politicians whom most trust had contributed to that perception.

Klacar told Radio Television Vojvodina that he saw this state of affairs as a communication failure on the part of people in the Union.

"More than 60 percent of citizens can see benefits to the state from joining the EU, but less than 50 percent of citizens understand the personal benefits they would have," the director of CESID said.

According to him, this state of affairs can be changed, and the focus should be on those members of the population with a neutral attitude toward the EU.

He went on to say that a new survey by CESID had shown that two out of three people believe that there will be no EU enlargement and that many have lost faith that this political organization will remain vital and strong.

Klacar said that the war in Ukraine, the EU's attitude toward the Jadar lithium mining project and the student protests in Serbia had contributed to the decline in support among the people in Serbia to EU membership.