CHISINAU, October 27. /TASS/. Almost half of Moldovan nationals would welcome their country’s membership of the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, suggests an opinion poll carried out in October across the country excluding Moldova’s breakaway Transdniestria.

“If a referendum took place in Moldova this weekend, 45% of polled people would vote for the country’s entry into the Customs Union,” the chairman of the Association of Sociologists and Demographers of Moldova, Viktor Mocanu, said.

He said 35% of those questioned would vote against, while another 7% would ignore the referendum.

“A total of 43% of respondents would vote for the European Union membership, while 40% would vote against. Five percent would ignore the voting,” the survey suggests.

Mocanu said as many as 48% were against Moldova’s NATO membership. Recent public opinion polls have been demonstrating growing skepticism towards the European Union in Moldova, as last year’s polls put the number of EU supporters at 52%

Experts link this change in the mood with a worsening economic situation in the country and declining ratings of Pro-European Coalition, the ruling coalition in Moldova.

The opinion poll was carried out in 70 settlements of the country, involving more than 1,000 people. The margin of error is no more than three percent.