75% of Macedonians support EU membership

Still high support, but a major drop from 89% of a few months ago. Reasons for the fall include the EU's call for a name change which would threaten national identity, frustration at the EU's double standards and increasingly slow progress, and a realisation that EU membership does not instantly or fundamentally guarantee changes in living standards, application of the rule of law, corruption or financial stability. Macedonians see that neighbouring Bulgaria's inclusion into the EU in 2007 has failed to bring much benefitial change to your average Bulgarian, nor has 30 years in the European family brought much vaunted change to wages, the rule of law, financial stability or corruption in its southern neighbour Greece. Otherwise, one of the main reasons why Macedonians want to join the EU is that they would like greater opportunity to leave the country and freely work in richer EU countries like Germany and the UK - hardly a benefit for Macedonia.