Warsaw, April 26, 2024 (AFP)
Support for Poland's membership in the European Union has dropped to its lowest level in more than a decade, according to a poll published Friday, as the bloc gears up for European Parliament elections.
A pro-EU coalition came to power in Poland in October elections after eight years of rule by the Law and Justice party (PiS), pledging to undo laws introduced by the right-wing populists.
The PiS clashed frequently with Poland's Western allies and the EU institutions in Brussels over rule-of-law concerns.
According to the latest poll by the CBOS Institute, despite the pro-EU camp's victory, support for the country's membership in the 27-nation bloc dropped to 77 percent, its lowest level since 2013.
Support had stood at 85 percent last year, and is far from the highest level of 92 percent seen in 2022.
It "still remains very high, but the poll confirms a decreasing trend," Anna Materska-Sosnowska, a political scientist at the Stefan Batory Foundation, told AFP.
Seventeen percent of respondents said they were opposed to Poland's membership in the European Union, a rise of seven percentage points from 2023 and 12 points more than two years ago.
The downward trend in support corresponds to the results of a Eurobarometer poll.
According to that study, carried out using different methodology, around 62 percent of Poles were satisfied with EU membership, a decrease of 10 points compared to 2002.
Polish support for the EU remained slightly above the European average of 61 percent, according to the Eurobarometer poll.
Materska-Sosnowska said the drop in EU support could be attributed to "a negative campaign carried out for years" by the PiS party.
"People also lack knowledge about what the EU really represents," she added.

Sumber : AFP