INSCOP Survey: Most Romanians agree they are seen as 'second-class citizens' in the EU

A majority of Romanians (78.2%) believe they are perceived as "second-class citizens" in the EU, according to an INSCOP poll released on Monday. The survey reveals that 78.2% of the respondents agreed with the statement that "Romanians are seen as 'second-class citizens' in the EU", 20.4% disagreed with the statement, and 1.4% did not know or did not answer. At the same time, a 50.2% majority of Romanians believe that some European states block Romania's accession to the border-free Schengen Area for economic reasons. The study also shows that 43.5% of the respondents believe that Romania has not yet been admitted to the EU's free movement area because it does meet all the accession criteria, and 6.2% do not know or did not answer. According to the survey, 55.9% of Romanians believe that pollution in the country is caused mainly by foreign companies, 35% - by Romanian companies, and 9.1% do not know or did not answer. Also, 47.3% of respondents believe that illegal logging in Romania is done mainly by foreign companies, 45.8% - especially by Romanian companies and Romanian citizens and 6.9% do not know or did not answer. According to the poll, 58.2% of the respondents disagree with the statement "The construction of highways in Romania is blocked by foreign powers that seek to prevent the development of the country," 35.4% agree with it, and 6.4% do not know or did not answer. Also, 49.5% of the respondents agreed with the statement "Hungary seeks to break Transylvania away from Romania," 43.2% disagreed, and 7.4% did not know or did not answer. As many as 87.2% of the respondents believe Romania must protect the rights of ethnic minorities on its soil, as 11% disagree and 1.8% do not know or did not respond. The survey was conducted by INSCOP Research in partnership with Verifield, at the request of the STRATEGIC Thinking Group think tank under a research project supported by The German Marshal Fund of the United States and funded by the Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation under the True Story Project. The poll, conducted between March 1 and 12, is divided into four chapters, with a third one focusing on the attitude towards foreign companies, the relationship with Hungary, opinion on minorities, and the Schengen area. The first two chapters were published on March 22 and 24. The computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) surveying was conducted on a sample of 1,100 people. It carries a plus/minus 2.95% error margin for a 95% confidence level. AGERPRES (RO - author: Florentina Peia, editor: Claudia Stanescu; EN - author: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu, editor: Adina Panaitescu)