ZAGREB, May 23 (Xinhua) -- The latest European Parliament survey shows highest support for the European Union in 35 years, but not in Croatia, the newest member state, where people's mindsets are more pessimistic.
According to the study published on Wednesday, just 36 percent of Croatian interviewees believe that the country's membership of the EU is a good thing. That is a decline of seven percentage points compared with the same survey six months ago. Most of the Croats, 49 percent, think that the membership is neither a good nor a bad thing, while 14 percent believe it is a bad thing.
"The citizens have not yet felt all the benefits Croatia can have from the European Union. The first project that will bring optimism is the construction of the Peljesac Bridge," Dubravka Suica, Croatian member in the European Parliament, told Xinhua on Wednesday.
The survey was conducted one year before the next European elections that will be held in May 2019. Nearly half of those surveyed in Croatia, exactly 46 percent, believe that things in the EU are going in the wrong direction. Some 32 percent of people are more optimistic, saying that the EU is going in the right direction.
Compared with other EU countries, Croats are more skeptical when it comes to voting in the European Parliament elections. For most of them, 38 percent, the vote will be of medium importance.
Croatia joined the European Union on July 1, 2013.