Poll: EU Membership Loses to Eurasian Union Among Moldovans

Moldovans are increasingly in favor of joining the Russia-led Customs Union over the European Union, a newly published public survey said Wednesday.

CHISINAU (Sputnik) – A total of 45.3 percent of Moldovans said they would vote in favor of joining the Customs Union, compared with 35.6 percent who said they would vote to join the EU, the Institute for Public Policy’s Barometer of Public Opinion indicated. The remaining 13.5 percent were undecided, while 3.1 percent of those surveyed said they would not take part in a potential referendum on the issue.

In December, 42 percent of Moldovans voiced support for Customs Union membership and 39 percent for EU membership. Support for EU membership declined from nearly 70 percent in November 2003 to 41 percent this April.

The survey was conducted among 1,143 Moldovans over the age of 18 on April 16-23, with a margin of error of 2.8 percent.

The European Union signed association agreements with Moldova and Georgia on June 27, 2014, with the goal of integrating the countries in the EU internal market.

In February 1995, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Russia signed a treaty guaranteeing the creation of a Eurasian Customs Union (ECU). The ECU transformed into the Eurasian Economic Union founded by Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia in May 2014.