Balkans Survey: Things Go from Bad to Worse

18 November – AIIS survey results are also confirmed by another survey conducted in the Balkans saying that the region countries strongly support the European integration. In regard to their countries EU accession, respondents in Kosovo and Albania viewed eventual EU membership positively. Respondents in Croatia and Bosnia – especially within the Serb-dominated entity of Republika Srpska – were the most negative.
People in the rest of the Balkans (except Kosovo and Montenegro) seem pessimistic about the economic and political situation. “The Western Balkans is a constantly changing region that often finds itself in the spotlight. Although its development seems marked by dynamic growth, there is also the difficult legacy of numerous conflicts and crises,” concludes the new Gallup Balkan Monitor report. The survey showed that only in Kosovo and Montenegro a majority of respondents (62 and 59 percent respectively) were optimistic about their country’s future. Pessimism was especially widespread in Croatia and Bosnia, where 64 and 61 percent respectively saw their country going in the wrong direction. Approximately two-thirds of interviewees in Serbia (62 per cent) and Macedonia (64 per cent) were not satisfied with their living standard. The Gallup Balkan Monitor is a multi-year project which is being carried out in seven Balkan countries – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. The first in a series of Gallup Balkan Monitor reports was conducted among the adult population (15 years and older) across the Western Balkan countries. At least 1,000 face-to-face interviews were conducted in each country in the period September and October 2008.