BELGRADE – Citizens of Serbia are dissatisfied with their lives and economic opportunities compared to the citizens of the EU, and both are most worried about unemployment, it was shown by a survey of the European Commission, Eurobarometer. According to the survey on the attitudes of citizens, conducted in November in 35 countries – 28 countries of the EU and 6 candidate countries, 79 percent of EU citizens are satisfied with their lives, while in Serbia only 48 percent think alike. More than half of EU citizens (56 percent) believe that their professional life is good, and in Serbia, 24 percent, says the survey whose results were published in December.
One-third of the citizens of Serbia assessed their financial situation as good, and 64 percent as bad, while at the EU level, the ratio is reversed – on average, 65 percent of the citizens of the EU believe that their financial situation is good, and 32 that it is bad. Eight percent of Serbian citizens believe that the economic situation in the country is good, while 91 percent believes that it is bad. In the EU, 34 percent of citizens believe that the economic situation is good, and 63 that it is bad, writes EurAktiv Serbia. Citizens of Serbia are divided over whether the economic condition in the country will improve in the next 12 months: 27 percent believe that they will, 36 that they will get worse, and 33 percent believes that things will remain the same. In the EU, 45 percent of citizens believe that the economic situation will not change.
When it comes to unemployment, the vast majority of Serbian citizens, 93 percent, believe that things are not good while 5 percent see things as good. In the EU 73 percent believe that the situation in this field is bad, while 24 that it is good. Majority of Serbian citizens, 42 percent, believe that the situation regarding employment will get worse, and the majority of EU citizens, 44 percent, that it will not change for the better nor the worse. When asked if they believe that things in the country are moving in the right or the wrong direction, 34 percent of Serbian citizens said that they are moving in a good direction, 33 percent said that they are moving in the wrong direction, and 26 percent – neither right or wrong.
Citizens of Serbia and the EU mostly believe that things will not change for the better nor the worse in the next 12 months when it comes to their financial situation (61 percent of EU citizens and 46 percent of Serbian citizens). Both for Serbian and EU citizens the biggest issue is the unemployment, which as the answer gave 59 percent Serbian citizens and 45 EU citizens. Majority of Serbian citizens, 48 percent, believe that their life will not change in the next 12 months, 31 percent expect it to improve, while 17 percent believe it will get worse. In the EU 58 percent of citizens believe that their life will not change in the next 12 months, while 28 percent believe that their life will improve, and 11 percent that it will get worse. According to the survey conducted in Serbia for the needs of Eurobarometer by TNS Medium Gallup on 1,017 respondents, 58 percent Serbian citizens support the enlargement of the EU in the following years, 26 percent is against I, while in the EU 48 percent is against it, and 39 is for the enlargement.