If a referendum on joining the European Union was held, over 56% of the respondents of a poll would vote in favor, while 25% would vote against. Others said they haven’t yet decided or wouldn’t take part. 35% in a referendum would vote for joining the Eurasian Union, while 47.5% would vote against. Between the EU and the Eurasian Union, 54% would choose the EU, while 25% would choose the Eurasian Union, according to an opinion poll commissioned by WatchDog.MD and conducted by CBS Research.
The highest figures of supporters of the European integration were registered during the rule of the Party of Communists. The period of 2010-2019 followed, when this indicator was low. In 2013-2017, it oscillated between 40% and 50% – the number of adherents. “A phase of revival followed and this has been more visible since 2020. During this period, the percentage of those who support the accession oscillated between 50% and 60%. This poll, in particular, puts the figure at 56.5%,” sociologist Vasile Cantarji of CBS Research stated in a press conference hosted by IPN.
WatchDog.MD head Valeriu Pașa said the respondents were asked if they heard about the initiative to hold a referendum on enshrining the accession to the European Union in the Constitution. Thus, 79.4% of those polled said they heard, 19.6% said they didn’t hear, while 0.9% said they didn’t know or they didn’t answer. “19.6% is, from my point of view, still a very high figure. When almost 20% of the population doesn’t know that a referendum is being prepared, it’s not good,” noted Valeriu Pașa.
The survey also shows that almost 23% of the respondents hold Romanian citizenship. The authors of the research consider this figure could be verified based on census data. Of these, slightly over half said they would vote in the three elections – in Romania, for the European Parliament, in the presidential and parliamentary elections. As for the presidential election, 44% of those questioned that they haven’t decided yet, while 23% said that they wouldn’t vote, when asked to choose from a list of candidates. Among those who chose an option, NATO Deputy Secretary Mircea Geoană has a commanding lead in the preferences of voters with Romanian citizenship with 52%. He is followed by Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu – 17%, and Senator Diana Șoșoacă (15%).
The survey was carried out during April 6-13 and covered a sample of 1,008 people aged 18 and older. The margin of sampling error is ±3%.
The research was organized within the project “Maintaining the resilience of democratic institutions in the Republic of Moldova”, which is implemented by WatchDog.MD Community with the support of the Open Society Foundations.
Note: IPN Agency offers the right of reply to persons who consider themselves targeted in the news made from the statements of the organizers of this press conference, including by facilitating the organization of another press conference under similar conditions.
