49% of the Romanians still support their country's EU membership
Just months ahead of Romania's first term as holder of the EU Council presidency, the perception of its citizens regarding the EU membership is on a downward trend, with the support rate going down from 59% to 49%. It is the sharpest decline in this respect in the European bloc, according to the latest Eurobarometer released by the European Parliament.
It is no good news, says the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, who believes however that the fall is only temporary. "As we know, a nation's view of the EU membership is generally shaped by domestic issues, rather than European ones. So, if we manage to solve our issues at home, I believe Romanians' attitude towards Europe will return to normal, that is to over 50%," Iohannis has explained. In fact, the Eurobarometer confirms this view. "In Romania, the turbulent national context that the country has known since August seems to be affecting its traditionally higher EU support indicators too. Romania is shaken by various protests against the government to denounce corruption and the judiciary overhaul. The national discontent seems to reflect on the perception Romanian respondents expressed about the EU in this survey, illustrated in the decreasing indicators showed below," the report reads.
The temporary nature of this perception is perfectly plausible, given that 65% of the Romanians say they would vote against Romania's leaving the Community, if a referendum were held on this topic. At EU level, the average support rate for EU membership is 62%, up 2% since April. The survey also shows that 21% of the Romanians believe the country's EU membership is a bad thing, whereas the European average for this indicator is 11%. Also, 64% of the Romanians say the EU accession benefited their country, as opposed to a 68% European average. According to 13% of the Romanians, the main benefit of EU accession was that the bloc contributed to strengthening democracy in their own country. On the other hand, half of Romania's citizens support a European economic and monetary union, with the Euro as a single currency. As for the topics on which next year's campaign for the European Parliament elections should focus, Romanians say protection of external borders is the most important issue for them.
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