Brussels, 15/11/2010 (Agence Europe) - According to a poll published this week in Brussels by Gallup (the Gallup Balkans Monitor, http://www.balkan-monitor.eu ), only 38% of Croats would vote in favour of their country joining the European Union if the referendum were held today. Some 43% of Croats oppose membership of the EU and 19% are undecided or have no opinion. A few months from the end of the accession negotiations, Zagreb is planning to close the remaining chapters in March 2011 and to sign the official accession treaty in June 2011, and the results of this latest poll will alarm the Croatian government because a referendum on joining the EU will take place. Diplomats suggest it will have to be held within a month of signing the accession treaty. To date, Croatia has concluded 25 of the 35 negotiating chapters and hopes to close four more by the end of the year (see EUROPE 10248).
The Croatian poll results contrast sharply with the huge backing for the idea of joining the EU in other Balkans candidates or potential candidate countries. The highest support is in Albania (where 93% favour joining the EU), although Albania has suffered a huge setback because the European Commission said no on 9 November (see EUROPE 10253). The poll was carried out, however, before the Commission published its opinion. Support for EU membership is also very strong in Kosovo (87%), Bosnia Herzegovina (83%), the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (82%) and Montenegro (81%). The situation is more nuanced in Serbia, where “only” 63% of the population want their country to join the EU. Gallup compares this with the 69% of Serbs supporting the idea of their country joining the EU in the 2009 poll. (H.B./transl fl)