Majority of EU citizens want enlargement but no change in Czech support

According to a new poll conducted by the European Commission, the majority of EU citizens support plans for enlargement to include the Czech Republic and other former Eastern bloc countries. The survey showed that 44% of the 16,000 people polled in all 15 EU countries supported the enlargement process, while 35% were against. Many of those who didn't agree with expansion were citizens of the Union's three largest countries: Britain, France, and Germany. Pavla Navratilova has the story.

The Commission said the results showed the need for promoting an educational campaign on the benefits of enlargement within EU countries. Maria Chatardova, the director of the Czech Foreign Ministry's EU Communications Strategy Department, agrees that educating EU citizens is the key: Jan Michavec is from the Centre For Public Opinion Research. He says support in the EU for enlargement reflects static support for membership among the Czech people:

Author: Pavla Navrátilová
run audio