Pajevic: Kosovo and ICTY dampen EU enthusiasm
Head of the Serbian government European Integration Office Milan Pajevic believes the main reasons for the drop in public support for EU accession are recent verdicts of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the Kosovo issue and the crisis in the EU.
(kosovocompromisestuff) Wednesday, January 30, 2013
A poll commissioned by the Office and conducted by Medium Gallup showed that support for EU accession among Serbian citizens has dropped to 41 percent, but Pajevic noted that the same survey showed a high level of support (62 percent) for the reforms the EU has asked Serbia to carry out, while 66 percent of those polled support efforts to solve problems between Belgrade and Pristina.
Pajevic told the daily Blic on Wednesday that the data shows the people are sensitive to everything they perceive as political terms for membership, such as resolving relations with Pristina, while at the same time highly appreciating the need to reform everyday life in a way supported by European regulations and practice.
Pajevic also stressed the significance of the poll's timing - it was done shortly after the ICTY's acquittal of Croatian generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac and former commander of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army Ramus Haradinaj, and the opening of checkpoints at the administrative crossings in northern Kosovo.
The support of Serbian citizens to the country's EU accession has dropped to the lowest level recorded in the last decade and now totals 41 percent, the Belgrade-based daily Danas reported Tuesday, quoting a poll carried out in December 2012.
The poll shows that in the second half of 2012, the enthusiasm for EU integration dropped by as much as eight percent compared to June.
