In Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), 77.4 percent of respondents would vote for joining the European Union (EU) if a referendum were to be held, according to a public opinion survey conducted by the Directorate for European Integration (DEI) of the Council of Ministers.
The DEI announcement specifies that this survey was conducted in August and that it related to support for EU accession, and topics related to European integration that are of interest to the citizens of BiH.
Joining the EU would be supported by 90.1 percent of respondents from the Federation of BiH (FBiH), 54.5 percent from Republika Srpska (RS), and 73.8 percent from Brcko District.
The research was conducted using the CATI method on a sample of 1.200 respondents, which is representative of the whole of BiH.
Respondents most often cite the guarantee of lasting peace and political stability – 34.4 percent, freedom of movement of people, goods, and capital – 32 percent, and compliance with laws and regulations – 22.8 percent as reasons for support.
Of the respondents who do not support BiH’s entry into the EU, 50.4 percent of them cite fear of higher living costs and taxes as the most common reason.
According to the opinion of the largest number of respondents, 49.9 percent believe that young people will benefit the most from BiH’s entry into the EU, 39.1 percent believe that the politicization of the process most hinders the integration of BiH into the EU, while for 27.9 percent it is the unwillingness to change.
Moreover, based on the opinion of 49 percent of the respondents, the fight against corruption is the most necessary reform to improve the daily life of citizens in BiH, followed by the reduction of tax burdens, 17.2 percent, and the reform of courts and prosecutor’s offices, 14.5 percent.
A total of 48 percent of respondents think that BiH’s European path has no alternative, while 44.8 percent of them believe that it does.
According to the DEI survey, 35.3 percent of respondents believe that BiH will never join the EU, while 34.7 percent believe that this will happen in 10 years at most, 15.4 in 15 years at most, and 14.6 percent in 20 years at the most.
A total of 56.3 percent of respondents recognize the EU as the largest donor of funds to BiH, for 20.9 percent of respondents it is Turkey, six percent believe that it is Russia, and 4.9 percent believe that it is Japan.
The largest percentage of respondents – 51.3 percent think that the EU will strengthen internal relations and continue with expansion, while 21.4 percent believe that the EU as an integration will not survive.
