SUPPORT FOR THE EU: soared in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia

EU: Support for the EU has soared in the four largest newcomers a year after their entry, according to opinion polls.

EU: Support for the EU has soared in the four largest newcomers a year after their entry, according to opinion polls.

Poles, Hungarians, Czechs and Slovaks will mark the first anniversary of the historic eastward enlargement of the bloc on Sunday. Support for the EU is highest in Slovakia at 83 per cent, followed by Poland at 79 per cent, Hungary at 73 per cent and the Czech Republic at 70 per cent, surveys conducted last month by local polling organisations showed.

In Poland, the largest newcomer, support for the EU jumped nearly 20 percentage points from last year. The ranks of Polish eurosceptics shrunk from more than 20 per cent to 14 per cent, with only 4 per cent saying they decisively opposed the EU.