Polls finds BiH citizens lack knowledge about EU

12/02/2008

A recent poll in BiH highlights citizens' broad support for EU membership. However, it also shows the division of the country by entity and a lack of basic knowledge about the Union and the accession process.

By Antonio Prlenda for Southeast European Times in Sarajevo -- 12/02/08

Without reforming the police force, Bosnia and Herzegovina has no chance to join the EU. [Getty Images]

The latest public opinion poll in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) shows remarkable support for the country's eventual EU membership, but also highlights a lack of knowledge of basic facts and obligations that are a precondition to joining the Union.

The Sarajevo-based Alumni Centre for Inter-Disciplinary Studies (ACIPS) recently compiled research showing that if a referendum were held, 79% of BiH citizens would vote for EU membership. In fact, 75% are unhappy that BiH seems to be on a slower path towards European integration than other countries in the region.

However, only 53% know what is in the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA), which the country needs to sign with the EU to become eligible for membership.

The ACIPS poll also made clear the differences of opinion on EU membership between the country's two entities -- the Federation of BiH (FBiH) and Republika Srpska (RS).

This difference is most obvious regarding reforming the current entity police structure, which is a precondition for signing the SAA. It has been stalled for more than a year.

When asked if the existence of the entities' separate police forces is more important for the country than its membership in the EU, 32% of the 1,550 respondents said the FBiH police structure is more important than Union membership. In RS, that percentage jumped to 61%.

According to political analyst Tanja Topic of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Banja Luka, residents in RS are taught to follow the official policy of the entity government. RS Prime Minister Milorad Dodik has said several times that the entity does not need the EU if it means the termination of the RS police.

"Our average citizen in RS is relatively uneducated and our last elections showed overwhelming support for SNSD party leader Dodik," Topic told <i>Southeast European Times</i>. "That is why there is such widespread public support for his ideas in the RS."

"There is no critical mass of intellectuals who think on their own. This is the old heritage of our non-democratic recent past," she added.

Topic stressed that, in addition to the public's lack of knowledge, a large number of BiH politicians do not understand the basics of the Union. Some of them do not know the total number of EU members, she said.

"The issue of EU membership is distant for our citizens because they are too busy with social and economic issues. On the other hand, the government does nothing to educate them on EU issues because the majority of local politicians are not interested in the Union," she said.