Citizens' support to the membership in the European Union (EU) has increased by over 20 percent, according to a survey carried out in April this year by Bosnia's Directorate for European Integration.

The information on this research, conducted by the expert state-level body supervising and implementing the EU integration-related decisions, was adopted on Thursday by the Bosnian state government, formally the Council of Ministers.

The survey has shown that 76.6 percent of the surveyed citizens would vote for Bosnia's accession to the EU, with somewhat stronger support in Bosnia's Federation (FBiH) entity where 86.5 percent of the residents support the membership.

As for Republika Srpska, the other of Bosnia's two semi-autonomous entities, 58.9 percent of its residents would vote for the membership.

The reasons why citizens support joining the EU family range between political stability, through freedom of movement to the rule of law, the survey has shown.

Asked about what is the most necessary reform that would improve the living standards in Bosnia, 46.8 percent of the surveyed citizens pointed out battling the corruption, 20.2 percent said this would be judicial reform, while 11.9 percent of them responded that social system reform was the most necessary,

According to the survey, 25.5 percent of citizens believe the European Union is interested in Bosnia's accession to ensure peace and stability while 24.5 percent believe it is because of the country's natural resources and 17.3 percent deem the reason would be the expansion of the European market.