Directorate for European Integration: More than half of BiH citizens support the country's entry into the EU

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The Council of Ministers of BiH adopted on Monday the Information on the public opinion survey "Citizens' attitudes on EU membership and the integration process", conducted by the Directorate for European Integration.

The results of this year's survey show that 56.52 percent of BiH citizens would vote for BiH's entry into the EU in a referendum on membership.

Support among citizens (30.3 percent) is significantly lower in the Republika Srpska than in the Federation of BiH (70.6 percent) and the Brčko District of BiH (75.5 percent).

Compared to the previous two annual surveys, the percentage of respondents who do not know or do not want to say how they would vote has increased.

The main reason for supporting EU integration is infrastructure improvement (34.8 percent), followed by the free movement of people, goods and capital, and respect for laws and regulations.

Fear of increased cost of living and taxes (66.5 percent) is the most common reason for opposing EU membership.

According to BiH citizens, reducing tax burdens on labor and removing barriers to employment (74.4 percent), fighting corruption and reforming public administration are the most significant reforms to be undertaken.

Asked to answer what would be the reasons for the EU's interest in Bosnia and Herzegovina's accession, respondents cited the expansion of the European market and ensuring peace and stability as the most important reasons.

The politicization of the integration process is, according to 36.2 percent of respondents, the biggest obstacle to BiH's EU integration.

In the FBiH, more often than in the RS, citizens believe that the obstacle to integration is the unwillingness to change (26.6 percent), while in the RS it is the current state of the EU (16.6 percent).

Among topics related to the integration process, respondents are most interested in the impact of EU membership on their daily lives.

As in previous years, the dominant source of information for citizens about the integration process is television, indicated by 63 percent of respondents.

The survey was conducted on a representative sample of 1,200 adult BiH citizens, using a computer-assisted telephone interviewing method (CATI), the Directorate for European Integration announced.