NATO Week in Belgrade: Only nine percent of Serbians support membership

Bojan Klacar, the Director of Centre for Free Elections and Democracy, CESID, said its telephone study showed that about a half of polled would support Serbia’s membership in the European Union, while 31 percent would be against.

Regarding joining NATO, only nine percent would agree to it, while 72 percent would be against.

Serbia still remembers NATO 1999 ‘Angel of Mercy’ bombing said to have aimed at stopping Belgrade’s oppression of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, particularly since the decision was taken by the UN General Assembly and not the Security Council.

Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic reiterated his country's military neutrality, adding the European integrations remained Belgrade’s foreign policy priority.

Klacar added that 65 percent of those covered by the survey CESID did with the Centre for Euro-Atlantic Studies, the host of the gathering, supported better relations with the US, and 40 percent saw Washington’s policy toward Serbia as improved.

The participants included NATO representatives, foreign ambassadors to Serbia and some Serbian top officials.