site.btaPositive Assessment of Bulgarian Role Prevail among Western Balkans Societies - Poll

Sofia, July 17 (BTA) - After the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU in the first half of 2018, people in the Western Balkan countries feel Bulgaria closer to their heart even though the EU did not give very clear accession prospects for these countries. This transpired in the second wave of a large-scale poll in the Western Balkans held by Gallup International.

The European perspectives of the Western Balkans was a top priority in the agenda of the Bulgarian Presidency.

The poll covered over 6,000 respondents in Macedonia, Kosovo, Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Hercegovina and Montenegro. They were polled in face-to-face and telephone interviews.

The Bulgarian role is appreciated by the societies in the Western Balkan countries. The prevailing group of respondents (58 per cent against 54 per cent last year) believe that Bulgaria advanced the cause of their European integration. 42 per cent (against 46 per cent last year) hold the opposite view.

In Albania 81 per cent of respondents believe that Bulgaria helped. The like share was 58 per cent in Montenegro and around 50 per cent in the rest of the countries. The increase is by 10 percentage points from last year.

In the Albanian community in Macedonia, 76 per cent believe that Bulgaria played a positive role, increasing by as much as 40 percentage points from last year. The strongly polarized opinions among the rest of the country is due to the fierce opposition between the two main parties there.

This polarization suggests that Bulgaria needs to work towards even closer ties with Macedonia, say the analysts.

More targeted efforts are also needed among the Muslims in Bosnia and Hercegovina, and in Kosovo, where the cultural bond with Bulgaria is not as strong, the pollsters say.

The fuzzy perspective offered to the Western Balkans by the EU leaders largely explains the lack of any changes in the expectations of the Western Balkan communities about the timing of their accession to the EU.

The optimism is biggest among the Albanian communities in all Balkan countries, the poll shows.

Bulgaria's efforts for the Western Balkans have made Prime Minister Boyko Borissov better known there. The share of those for whom he is an unfamiliar face, has contracted by 16 percentage points over a year. This makes Borissov stand out among the Balkan leaders. The only one who has close to his approval rating is Turkish President Erdogan but he also gets high disapproval and the disapproval tends to grow more than the approval in the past, the pollsters say.

Forty-four per cent of people in the Western Balkans (or over 6 million people) are aware of the issues discussed during the May meeting of the EU and the Western Balkan leaders. Half of them are even aware of the results of the meeting.

These are fairly impressive numbers considering that such meetings normally remain outside people's attention in their everyday life, the pollsters comment.