BRUSSELS, December 12. /TASS/. More than a third of the residents of several European countries are opposed to the expansion of the European Union in the near future, according to a poll conducted by the European Council on Foreign Relations on November 7-19 among 6,000 respondents over 18 in Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Poland and Romania.
According to the survey, 37% of respondents are against the accession of new countries to the European Union, 35% are in favor of EU enlargement, and the rest are indifferent or unsure. Most of those who oppose the accession of new members live in Austria (53%), Germany (50%), France (44%) and Denmark (37%). Residents of Romania (51%) and Poland (48%) are the most supportive of new countries joining the EU.
When asked about the prospects of Ukraine's accession to the EU, 37% of respondents were in favor of it, and 33% were against it. At the same time, more than half of the Austrian respondents were against it, and half of the Danes were for it.
According to the survey, 45% of respondents said that Ukraine's accession will have a "negative impact" on the security of the EU, only 25% believe that the impact could be positive. Many residents of six European countries believe that Ukraine's accession will not bring any benefits to the EU economy, about half of the respondents from Denmark and Austria fear a deterioration of indicators against the background of the expansion of the association.
Possible EU membership talks
The leaders of the 27 EU countries may decide to open accession talks with Moldova and Ukraine and grant candidate status to Georgia at a summit on December 14-15. This was the proposal made in early November by the European Commission, which believes that Kiev and Chisinau have met all the conditions for starting negotiations, and Tbilisi - for obtaining the status of candidate for EU membership.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said earlier that a "big battle" is expected at the meeting of the EU General Affairs Council over the accession of new countries to the EU. In his opinion, the EU enlargement process should continue at the expense of the Western Balkans, not Ukraine. Five countries in the region - Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro - have the status of official candidates for EU membership. The self-proclaimed Kosovo has also applied for membership.