24/12/2008

Support to Eurointegrations of the West Balkans is very big among citizens of countries in the region, a recently published regional survey of Galup Balkan Monitor shows. Sandra Pekić has more.

Approaching membership in the EU, West Balkan citizens have a realistic attitude to the integration process, although doubts regarding the admission keep rising. In most West Balkan member-states pollees believe they do not have enough knowledge of the EU. Based on the survey, around 60% of Serbian citizens believe membership in the EU is good for Serbia. The highest degree of Euroskepticism is felt in Croatia and most optimism in Albania, with more than 80% positive replies. Croatian citizens expect membership in 2013 and Macedonian citizens in 2015. One third of pollees in Serbia do not know when Serbia could become an EU member-state, while others believe that will happen by 2018. The research published soon after the publication of a report on the progress of West Balkan states represents an additional assessment of the region created on the basis of opinions and stands of citizens and enables access to social economic, political and multicultural dimension of states in the region.
Assessing that reports on progress prepared by the European Commission for West Balkan states for 2008 are balanced, a professor of the Faculty of Political Studies, Tanja Miščević, believes that the states have positively assessed their reports and took quite a different attitude to reports the European Commission has published for other countries in the region. That is confirmed by protests of neighbouring states against the insertion in the text of 2009 as a year in which Serbia could be granted a candidate status if it fulfills conditions. Those protests were so strong that by lobbying in EU member-states they caused the deletion of that statement in Council of Europe conclusions published in mid-December.
Speaking of regional cooperation, we must bear in mind that, although we are going together towards the same goal, which is EU membership and realization of reforms, countries in the West Balkans are competitive towards one another, Miščević emphasizes.
After Montenegro submitted an application for EU candidature, there have been public analyses in the region that the move is premature, says Tanja Miščević. She believes Montenegro’s step is very important for the region, as well as the message sent to Croatia that in 2011 it could be admitted to the EU. Due to the difficult situation faced by the EU, the world financial crisis, the ratification of the Lisbon agreement, elections to the European Parliament and the European Commission, the EU enlargement process could be rendered more difficult, she assessed. However, the European Commission assesses that year 2009 is key for progress in European integrations of the West Balkans, provided each country continues with the fulfilment of conditions, especially in the fields of security, stability and reconciliation, says Miščević.