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29th Mar 2024

Macedonians do not trust EU policy towards their country

  • Three-quarters of ethnic Macedonians do not trust EU policy towards their country. (Photo: European Commission)

Macedonian citizens are divided in how they view EU policies towards their country and many are deeply sceptical of European involvement, according to a poll by the agency Rating.

While the vast majority of ethnic Macedonians (72 percent) do not trust the European Union's policy towards Macedonia, a similar proportion of Albanians (74 percent) living in the country believe the EU to be a trustworthy body.

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The poll, conducted in November, also reveals a sharp decline in confidence in the EU over the last two years. In 2008, 44 percent of overall respondents said they did not trust the EU but now nearly three-quarters feel the same way.

Macedonia became an official EU candidate in 2005 but accession negotiations have not yet started. Greece is still blocking the country's entry into both the EU and Nato, arguing that the name 'Macedonia' belongs to its own province of the same name.

Athens wants its northern neighbour to change its name to reflect the distinction between the two countries. Negotiations have been ongoing since 1995 under UN auspices but have not led to any tangible results.

Most Macedonians do not understand the EU's hesitation to begin accession talks and reject demands for a change of name as unfair. This feeling became stronger in 2009 when the European Commission recommended that member states open accession talks because Macedonia has met all the necessary conditions.

Macedonia's ethnic Albanian minority (one quarter of the population) views things differently. In general, they want to see their country join the EU and Nato quickly and would prefer to see the name issue with Greece resolved soon to pave the way for discussion to begin.

However, not all Macedonians consider this a prerequisite for accession talks. While 58 percent of the country is aware that it cannot begin talks without a solution to the name issue, 36 percent is convinced that it could be done regardless.

Macedonians are great pessimists when it comes to eventual EU membership. Over half are convinced that their country will be the last Balkan state to enter the club. Most (38 percent) believe that Serbia will be first with Albania as the second favourite (32 percent). Only 11 percent believe their country will be the first Balkan EU member.

When it comes to confidence in their government's determination to implement reforms required by the EU, respondents are fairly divided. 47 percent are satisfied and 51 percent remain unconvinced that prime minister Nicola Gruevski and his team are sufficiently dedicated to the goal.

In general, Macedonians believe there has been a lack of progress when it comes to reforms. Only 18 percent said they had seen progress in the judicial system, making it the worst performing sector; half said there had not been any change.

Only 37 percent think the country has made any progress in the fight against corruption, and 30 percent hold similar views about freedom of expression and the media.

As in every poll conducted during the last four years, the governing conservative VMEO-DPMNE has again come out as the party people would favour in the next elections, with 26.7 percent support compared to 15.4 percent for the social democrat opposition.

In the Albanian political sphere, the governmental coalition partner DUI has received the highest rating while its opponent DPA has 2.9 percent support.

The survey was conducted over the phone between 20 to 23 November on a representative sample of the adult population of 1,080 respondents.

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