Bulgarians continue to trust the European Union, despite slight hesitance in the last months. Brexit could have even made Bulgarians appreciate the European Union. If a similar referendum were held in Bulgaria, the majority would have voted to remain, though the declared support to be smaller than before.
A claim was tested “The European union would disintegrate” and 46% responded negatively, 27% answered positively and the rest could not give an answer. The picture
If this question sounded abstract, now the question has a more context to it.
At the dawn of the referendum, only 11% believed that this referendum would reflect their lives, 67% did not believe it would reflect their lives. Now 515 believe that Brexit will reflect the lives of Bulgarians, whereas 30% do not believe so. Though there may not be a direct comparability between the before and after referendum it is clear that the British referendum has seized interest to change significantly the attitudes.
If a referendum is held in Bulgaria with a question if the country should remain in the European Union, 615 believe it would vote to stay. 20% would vote for leave, and the remaining hesitate (19%).
If the data is calculated among the people who would definitely participate in a referendum, the 75% will support the remain of Bulgaria in the European Union. Only 25% support an exit. Gallup international asked a similar question in 2015 in a comparative research of 14 European countries. At this research the positive opinions among participants in the referendum were 82% whereas the negative 18%. This data placed Bulgarians among the strongest EU support countries in the EU. More on this research can be found HERE.
Despite the apparent hesitance in the answers from the end of 2015 and mid 2016 Bulgarians remain decisive supporters of the EU. A few weeks ago a regular opinion poll of “Gallup international Balkan” showed that general trust in the EU is at its lowest point since accession but remains high. (details can be found HERE).
People with higher level of education and income are more positively looking towards the EU. The supporters of the left are traditionally less positively looking at the EU, but even in this group distrust does not prevail.