Croatia drums up public support for EU bid

The recent result of a survey revealing that Croatian citizens would have voted against European Union membership was unsurprising, according to president Ivo Josipovic. The Croatian foreign ministry is now working on an information campaign to try to win back popular support for the bid. The Gallup Europe poll, conducted in July, found that 43 percent of Croatian citizens would have voted No in a referendum on accession, compared to just 38 percent in favour. Just one quarter of citizens said EU membership was a "good thing". "The accession process is too long, everyday problems are burdening citizens and there are fears related to European regulations," Mr Josipovic said in response to the survey. Croatia's accession talks, which began in 2005, have been the longest of any EU candidate country to date. This is mainly due to domestic problems. Some analysts concluded that the answers to the Gallup Europe survey reflected the current economic crisis and the hardships of everyday life. However, the EU must share some of the blame. Croatia started negotiations at a sensitive moment, when France rejected the EU constitution, and after Bulgaria and Romania joined the union became more cautious about new members. 

The survey also revealed a paradox; the closer a country draws to joining the EU the less its citizens actually favour membership. Mr Josipovic's comments raised the fundamental question of how much Croats actually know about the EU. The government attempted to counter the dangers of ignorance and misunderstanding when it adopted communication strategies in 2001 and 2006. These were intended to inform the public about European integration. Information points and phone lines were set up, publications distributed and a ‘European Week' was announced, but none of these schemes proved particularly successful.

Andrej Plenkovic, state secretary for EU affairs in the ministry of foreign affairs and European integration, is now focusing his ministry's work on a new information strategy. "I already visited seventeen counties and in each of them we had presentations of issues of special interest for the people there – it could be agriculture or fisheries or something else. I was accompanied by people from other government bodies and agencies that deal with the EU. Around a hundred people attended each meeting and local media were hugely interested," Mr Plenkovic told WAZ.EUobserver. The real campaign is planned to take place before the referendum and will include TV and radio 

advertisements. Mr Plenkovic is confident that Croatian citizens will finally vote in favour of EU membership and he predicts a 65 percent approval rate. The ministry has already conducted its own survey with similar results: 62 percent for the EU, 33 percent against and five percent undecided.
But Vesna Pusic, vice-president of the Croatian People's Party (HNS) and president of the national committee for monitoring accession negotiations, is not as satisfied with the information campaign. "I think it should be, at this moment, more focused on concrete facts," said Ms Pusic. "We are in the final phase of negotiations so the government should tell the people when some of the EU regulations will take effect, what it means and what the consequences are. That would reduce people's fears." Ms Pusic is also confident that Croatian citizens will vote for the EU. "When it comes to the question 'Do we want to be Europeans?' Croats will say Yes."

News source: waz.euobserver.com link: article