Poll: Slovaks Trust EP and EC More than National Parliament and Gov't

Bratislava, February 25 (TASR) – Based on the results of the latest Eurobarometer survey conducted in the autumn of 2017, Slovaks trust the European Parliament (EP) more than the national Parliament and they also consider the European Commission (EC) to be more trustworthy than the Slovak Government.

The survey also showed that some 48 percent of Slovaks believe in the EU as a whole. “Trust in the EU is a bit higher. There is also a hike when it comes to trust in the EC, an increase to 44 percent between the spring and the autumn. In addition, trust in the European institutions and optimism for the future went up as well,” said the European Commission’s Representation to Slovakia head Ladislav Miko, adding that Slovak attitudes are more pro-European than the EU average.

Miko welcomes the fact that trust in the EU and its institutions has been increasing. “We’ve managed to go from figures below 40 percent to above 40 percent,” he said.

Alexander Karvai of the marketing research agency Kantar TNS added that Slovaks consider the free movement of people, goods and services and the euro currency to be the greatest benefits of the Union. Conversely, bureaucracy and the waste of money in the EU are the biggest disadvantages for Slovaks.

Comenius University’s Faculty of Arts analyst Pavol Bobos views Slovaks’ trust in the Union as relatively stable. According to Babos, the reason why Slovaks trust the European institutions more than the domestic ones could be explained by the fact that the EP and the EC are more distant than the Slovak Parliament and Government. “These are closer and are connected to various scandals, while the EP and the EC scandals don’t get to the people… let’s say corruption scandals don’t go public. Therefore, trust in the Slovak political institutions is lower,” said Babos.