Public support for European Union membership rose in most EU candidate countries this year, but dropped in the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Latvia, a regional survey revealed yesterday.
In Hungary, 66 per cent of respondents said in May that they would vote in favour of accession in a referendum, compared to 54 per cent the previous year, the latest poll by GfK Hungaria showed.
In Poland, public support for membership rose to 49 per cent from 44 per cent.
In Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia and Turkey, support for joining the wealthier Western bloc was even higher, with Romania leading the list at 78 per cent in favour.
The agency carried out the poll in 13 mostly Eastern European countries in April and May this year and last year.
The surveys were based on interviews with 1,000 people in each country, representing a cross-section of the adult population.
The question asked was the same: "If there was a referendum now about accession to the EU, how would you vote?"
In May 2001, 15 per cent of Hungarians said that they would vote against EU membership. This declined to 9 per cent this year, the institute revealed.
While in May last year 33 per cent of Poles had said that they would vote against accession, the figure had dropped to 24 per cent by this year.
But in the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Latvia, fewer people backed EU membership this May than a year ago, the poll showed.
In the Czech Republic, support declined to 41 per cent from 42 per cent.
In Slovenia, it dropped to 40 per cent from 42 per cent, while in Latvia it fell to 39 per cent from 46 per cent the previous May.
Hungary, along with nine other mostly ex-communist Eastern European countries, expects to become a fully-fledged EU member by 2004.
- (Reuters)