Downward trend of support for EU membership accelerated this year, but at 77 percent, Albanians remain staunchly pro EU membership, according to an annual survey by the Albanian Institute for International Studies.
TIRANA, June 11 – Support among Albanians for membership in the European Union has declined by more than 7 percent in the past year, but it remains strong at 77 percent, according to an annual survey of the Albanian Institute for International Studies released this week.
The decline is the largest ever year-to-year since the survey started a decade ago, and this year’s study was conducted after five EU member states rejected a recommendation by the EU’s executive branch to grant Albania candidate status in December last year. Albania hopes to get another shot at the status at the end of the month.
Thirty nine percent of the respondents said they saw the December decision as unfair, 40.7 said it was fair, while 20.3 percent said they did not know.
The survey found that more than half of Albanians are aware that the country is not ready for membership, but want Albania to join the EU to have access to more jobs and a better life, and believe the union can help the country fight corruption and poverty. More than 54 percent said Albania is not ready, and 40 percent said EU should let Albania in even it hasn’t met the standards.
The survey took place two months ago in 12 regional centers across Albania with direct interviews of 1,200 people.
EU integration is also no longer seen as the top issue in the country. About 30 percent of the respondents think that EU membership has key importance for Albania, while the other 50 percent this year say that this integration is an important step but not the leading one.
While nearly half thought EU authorities had been unfair to Albania by not granting the status in December, about 70 percent of respondents blamed the Albanian government and political class for the delay. Among the main reasons for the postponement of December decisions, as seen by the respondents, were weak rule of law, the high rate of crime and corruption.
“Albanians have given us some interesting answers when asked about the importance of integration to them personally. Whereas in previous years the majority always picked integration as the main priority, this year, for the first time we see the majority of respondents saying that integration is quite important but not the most important thing to them personally,” Alba Cela, director of the European Program at AIIS, tells Tirana Times. “This shift in perception of importance signals a welcome sign of a more normal more realistic relationship between the Albanian citizens and the expectations he might hold regarding EU integration. However it could be as well interpreted also as a partial expression of their frustration with the delay of integration process milestones such as the status issue.”
Albanians remain staunchly optimistic about their EU bid, perhaps unrealistically so, say integration experts, with more than 35 percent believing Albania will become an EU member by 2020. Though EU officials do not give any specific dates, integration officials believe there is little chance Albania will become a member in the next decade.
About 50 percent also believe Albania will get candidate status in June.
The minority of Albanians who would say no to EU membership even if offered say they are afraid of the EU economic crisis, price increases, weakening of the Albanian business and that locals would lose jobs to better-qualified foreigners.
