The latest Eurobarometer survey has found a high level of trust among Slovak citizens in the European Union and its institutions, with Slovakia being the leader in the EU when it comes to trust in the EU as a whole, according Andrea Elscheková-Matisová, the head of the European Commission Representative Office in Slovakia, the TASR newswire reported.
As many as 71 percent of Slovak citizens said that they trust the EU, which is 28 percentage points above the EU average. Slovaks place the most trust in the European Parliament (76 percent), the European Central Bank (68 percent), the EU Council (67 percent) and the European Commission (66 percent), while their own national institutions such as the Slovak parliament, government and courts do not enjoy such high approval ratings.
The issues that Slovaks worry most about include: price increases (51 percent), health care (22 percent) and the economy (21 percent). However, they do believe in meeting the goals stated in the Europe 2020 economic strategy, stating that the issues that need to be addressed most urgently include: economic and monetary policies (45 percent), social policies (44 percent), the fight against crime (41 percent) and healthcare policies (38 percent).
"Despite the problems faced by the eurozone in 2010, it's gratifying to say that Slovaks have kept faith in the euro," said Elscheková-Matisová on February 28, as quoted by the TASR newswire.
Most Slovak citizens (89 percent) support the idea of maintaining the concept of a European economic and monetary union featuring a common currency. As many as 68 percent of Slovak citizens believe the euro has lessened the negative impacts of the economic crisis.
The latest Eurobarometer also reported that Slovak citizens have an above-average positive attitude towards further enlargement of the EU, with 68 percent supporting this. But Slovaks are rather selective when it comes to which countries should be allowed to join. The highest level of support was expressed for Switzerland, Norway and Croatia while Albania, Kosovo and Turkey ended up with the lowest support.
The autumn 2010 Eurobarometer survey, conducted twice a year and covering a wide range of questions related to European integration, was conducted in Slovakia on a sample of 1,031 respondents between November 12 and 28 last year.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
