According to the survey by the Directorate for European Integration (DEI), which was conducted in May and June this year, 73.3 percent of respondents supported BiH’s entry into the European Union, which is 4.1 percent less than the survey from the previous year.
At its session, the BiH Council of Ministers adopted the DEI’s Information on the results of the public opinion survey “Citizens’ Attitudes on Membership in the European Union and the EU Integration Process”, conducted in May and June 2023 on a sample of 1,200 respondents at the level of the entire BiH.
About 73.3 percent of respondents supported BiH’s entry into the EU, which is 4.1 percent less compared to the survey from the previous year. Joining the EU was supported by 86 percent of respondents from the Federation of BiH, 50.6 percent of respondents from Republika Srpska and 71.5 percent of respondents from the Brčko District of BiH.
The majority of respondents, namely 36.3 percent, who support BiH’s entry into the EU cite the freedom of movement of people, goods and capital as the main reason, while 30.5 percent of them single out the guarantee of permanent peace and political stability, and 22.4 percent respect for laws and regulations. At the same time, the improvement of infrastructure is cited by 9.1 percent of respondents as a reason for their support.
More than half of the respondents (52.7 percent) who do not support BiH’s entry into the EU state the fear of higher living costs and taxes as the most common reason, while 17.5 percent of the respondents believe that the reason is the loss of cultural diversity, and 13.2 percent answered how much centralization it is.
When asked what reform is necessary to improve everyday life of BiH citizens, almost half, or 46.6 percent, of the respondents cited the fight against corruption, 18.3 percent believed that the reform of the courts and prosecutor’s offices was necessary, 17.6 percent of the respondents cited the need to reduce tax burdens, 10.3 percent of the respondents considered the reform necessary social system, and only 4.9 percent of them mentioned public administration reform.
Most of the respondents (50.7 percent) believe that young people would benefit the most from BiH’s entry into the EU, and 16.3 percent answered that it would be politicians.
A total of 40.9 percent of respondents believe that the politicization of the integration process makes the integration of BiH into the EU the most difficult, which is 1.8 percent more compared to the previous year, while 23.3 percent of citizens cited unwillingness to change as a reason.
