Slovaks trust European institutions more than national ones, according to a Eurobarometer survey carried out in November 2014. The survey showed 50 percent of Slovaks favour the European Parliament, while its national counterpart is trusted by only 26 percent of the population. Moreover, 47 percent of Slovaks prefer the European Commission while only 27 percent believe in the Slovak Government. Confidence in the European Commission as well as the European Parliament was above the European average. The most positive towards the EU are Slovak students, followed by managers and the self-employed. "National bodies decide on matters that are close to the people, so they see more problems. The EU is perceived from a distance, people see more positive things, such as common foreign and security policies", said Dušan Chrenek, chair of the representation of the European Commission in Slovakia. According to Chrenek, the survey shows that Slovaks have a positive attitude towards the EU in general, as 73 percent of them view themselves as EU citizens. The survey was carried out between November 7-17, 2014 in 28 EU-member states plus six candidate countries and among the Turkish community in Cyprus.
TASR
