North Macedonia: Nearly two-thirds of survey respondents have a positive attitude towards "Open Balkan"

A total of 63.3% of respondents in a survey conducted by the Institute for Political Studies - Skopje have a positive view of the "Open Balkan" initiative, which includes North Macedonia, Serbia, and Albania.

The survey, conducted for the needs of the program "Detector," shows that only 15.9% of the surveyed citizens have a negative attitude towards "Open Balkan."

Comparative analysis with IPIS's 2020 research indicates an increase in citizens' trust in "Open Balkan," as at that time, 42.4% of respondents had a positive view of the initiative, while 39.9% had a negative view.

The youngest respondents have the most positive attitude towards this initiative. Among respondents under the age of 30, 70.9% have a positive opinion about "Open Balkan."

When asked which country in the region North Macedonia has the best relations with, 56.5% of respondents mentioned Serbia, followed by Albania with 11.3%, Turkey and Kosovo with 3.3% each, Croatia with 2.6%, Slovenia with 1.2%, Greece with 1.1%, and Bulgaria with 0.9%.

On the other hand, as the country with which North Macedonia has the worst relations, 64.6% of respondents mentioned Bulgaria, followed by Greece with 9.2%, Albania with 3.4%, Serbia with 2%, and Kosovo with 1.2%.

The Institute for Political Studies - Skopje conducted the survey by phone from May 2nd to May 6th this year, with a representative sample of 1,112 respondents.