Euroscepticism is growing rapidly in North Macedonia, as for the first time the percentage of those who believe that the country’s accession to the EU would be a positive development fell below 50%.
Specifically, according to the “Eurobarometer 2022” survey, only 49% answered that the country’s accession to the EU would be a positive development. 34% responded that the country’s accession to the EU would not be a positive development. It is noted that in the same 2021 survey, the percentage of those who believed that North Macedonia’s accession to the EU would be a positive development reached 69%, i.e. within a year it fell by 20%.
According to the survey, 29% believe that North Macedonia will never join the EU, while 12% believe that the country will join the EU in the next five years.
Furthermore, 65% consider that the EU’s attitude towards North Macedonia is “dishonest” and “blackmailing”.
The percentage of those who express a “Eurosceptic” view is much higher among those of Slavic origin, compared to that of the Albanians of North Macedonia.
A percentage of 27.6% answered that the country that poses the greatest threat to North Macedonia is Bulgaria, while only 0.9% stated that Greece is the greatest threat to North Macedonia.
The two countries have had open historical, linguistic and ethnic differences for decades, while their relations have cooled particularly in recent years, due to Sofia’s veto on the start of Skopje’s accession negotiations with the EU.
Regarding the countries or organizations, which the citizens of North Macedonia consider the most friendly to them, in the first place, with a percentage of 37%, comes Serbia, followed by the USA (11.4%), Turkey (8, 5%) and the European Union (8.1%). Only 0.3% answered that the friendliest country for North Macedonia is Greece.
The survey was conducted between 12 and 17 December 2022 on a representative sample of 1006 citizens of North Macedonia.
Source: Capital News
