Serbia the only WB Country with more Trust in the Government than in the EU

BRUSSELS - According to the newest Eurobarometer Survey, conducted in June this year and published this month, Serbia is the only Western Balkan country whose citizens have more trust in the national government (41%) than in the European Union (33%).

In North Macedonia, these figures are 57% for EU and 33% for the national government, in Albania 69% to 40% and the result in Montenegro is 47% to 43%. Surveys have not been conducted in Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Serbia is also the only surveyed Western Balkan country with more distrust than trust in the EU, the difference being a significant 20%.

In the EU itself, the average trust in the Union is 44%, while the average distrust is 46%.

When it comes to the image EU has in the countries of the Western Balkans, Albania is again at the top of the list, with 81% of its citizens having either a "very positive" or "fairly positive" image of the EU, while for only 3% that image is "fairly negative" or "very negative".

On the other hand, the percentage of those who have a positive image of EU in Serbia is less than half of what it is in Albania: 37%. It is still higher than the percentage of the citizens who have a negative image - 27% - but the former group has been reduced by 5% and the latter has increased by the same number since November 2018.

In Montenegro, this ratio is 63% to 18% in favour of a positive image, while the North Macedonia has seen a slight decrease since last year, the ratio being 56% to 17%.

Lower grades for national economy compared to EU citizens

Montenegro is the only surveyed country in which the view of the state of the national economy is close to EU average: 48% assess the economy as "good" while 47% assess it as "bad".