Support for EU membership lowest in five years

The support for Croatia’s European Union membership has fallen to its lowest point in the last five years, the latest monthly survey CRO Demoscop shows.

Some 44.6 per cent of Croatians support EU membership or 6.2 per cent fewer than when the country’s pulse was taken last month. Compared to May of last year when 52.5 per cent of support was registered, this is even a more dramatic fall.

EU membership had most fans in June 2010 or 53.1 per cent since the survey’s inception in January 2004.

The daily Dalje believes that the guilty verdicts for Croatian generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac – sentenced to 24 and 18 years in prison for war crimes in The Hague – are the main reason behind the dramatic fall in support.

Some 41.8 per cent of Croatians are clearly against EU membership, the highest percentage in the last 12 months and four per cent more than in May last year. There are 13.6 per cent of undecided, also another record.

The phone survey is conducted at the beginning of each month with a sample of 1,300 people.