Kosovo Worries Turn Serbs Against EU

In a referendum on joining the EU, 44.5 per cent would support membership while one-third would be against it, latest research from the government shows. This is the lowest level of support for the European project recorded since 2000.

The reseach was conducted by the government's Agency for EU Integration on a sample of 1,700 residents of the capital.

The results showed that many Serbs believe the EU is “blackmailing” Serbia over Kosovo, which is then stimulating opposition to joining the club.

Danko Runic, director of the Agency for European Integration, blamed falls in support for EU membership on the recent "escalation of conflict in Kosovo, the unwillingness of the political elite to clearly determine the path towards European integration, and the creation of an image that the European road means giving up Kosovo".

Since July, tension has been high in Serb-run northern Kosovo where local Serbs have been manning barricades in protest against the deployment of Kosovo officials on the border with Serbia.

EU leaders have warned Serbia not to escalate the situation and have made it clear that joning the EU depends in part on normalising relations with Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008.

Since 2003, when a healthy 72 per cent of the population supported the country's accession, support has been gradually falling with little ups and downs.

The young were those leading democratic changes a decade ago, whereas today more than 40 per cent of young people under 30 have a negative opinion about the European community, the poll shows. This is opposed to half of middle-aged people who have a positive view on the EU.

Maja Micic, from the Youth Initiative for Human Rights, partly blamed Serbia's education system, which does not familiarise students with the European integration process.

"It's an indication of the wider social picture. Unfortunately no one is working enough with these young people. The big problem is that there are some nationalist currents that are effective in mobilizing them,” Micic told Radio Free Europe.