Half of Moldovans think the country is moving towards a wrong direction – poll

Moldova is moving towards a wrong direction, and Romania is the country that can help the most in getting us closer to the European Union. These opinions are shared by almost a half of the respondents to the Socio-Political Barometer (SPB) OMNIMAS, made public today by IMAS-Inc Chisinau polling organisation. According to SPB, 53% of the respondents think that things go wrong in Moldova, while 33% of them consider the opposite. 14% of them failed to answer. The general state of mind of the population reflected in the opinion poll has marked a downward trend; that is, in February 2006 there were 46% of those who disliked the general state of affairs in Moldova, in June – 50% and in November 2006 – 49%. The satisfied part of the respondents constituted 32%, 36% and 37%. According to the same poll, if a referendum on Moldova’s accession to the European Union was held next Sunday, 67% of the respondents would vote for, and only 9% against. 28% of the respondents say that Moldova needs more than 10 years to become a European Union member, 26% say that there are needed about 5-10 years, 9% - 3-4 years, 2% - in 1-2 years and 8% think Moldova is never going to become a EU member. At the same time, 30% of them consider that Moldova is able to obtain the membership all by itself, while 45% believe that there is a strong need for foreign help and support. The most trustworthy country in this regard is Romania (chosen by 49%), Russia (12%), USA (8%), Germany and France (3%), EU, Italy and Ukraine (chosen by 2%). The Socio-Political Barometer (SPB) OMNIMAS was conducted between March 14 and 23, on a sample of 1091 persons from Moldova, excluding Transnistria. The margin of error is of 3%.