The majority of Bulgarian citizens would support the accession of the Western Balkans to the EU, but not that of Turkey, if a referendum were held on the issue in the spring of 2018. This is shown by the data of a nationally representative public opinion survey by the Open Society Institute – Sofia conducted in April 2018, which included a question on attitudes in Bulgaria in regard to the process of EU enlargement.
According to the survey, among the Western Balkan countries Macedonia would receive the strongest support as it gathers the approval of nearly 83% of respondents who have an opinion on the issue, followed by Serbia with a support by nearly 82% and Montenegro would have 76% support. The membership of Bosnia and Herzegovina would be supported by over 73%, of Kosovo – nearly 55% and of Albania – 52.4%. Support to Turkey’s candidacy is expressed by just over 38% of those with an opinion on the issue.
Full text of the report EU Enlargement and Public Opinion in Bulgaria
The data is from a nationally representative survey of public opinion, conducted among the population over 18 years old in April 2018 using the face to face method with standardized questionnaire. The sample is probabilistic two-stage cluster. The maximum permissible error is ± 2.85%. The survey is conducted and financed by the Open Society Institute – Sofia.
