EUROPEAN UNION PERCEPTION OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA’S PEOPLE

The main purpose of this article is to measure and analyze the perceptions, attitudes, behaviors and knowledge of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s public opinion about the Bosnian Herzegovina-EU relations and the EU. The study used three key dimensions regarding the EU perception of the Bosnian Herzegovina people: Political, economic and cultural. Each dimension identifies the EU perception of the Bosnia and Herzegovinian public opinion. This provides us with important data on how the public perceive the EU. Does the public opinion see the EU as a key to solve internal economic and political problems of the BiH? According to public opinion what are the main obstacles in front of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s EU membership? The answers to these questions were sought in the study.


Introduction
The main purpose of this article is to measure and analyze the perceptions, attitudes, behaviors and knowledge of Bosnia and Herzegovina's public opinion about the Bosnian Herzegovina-EU relations and the EU.The survey was conducted using a quantitative methodface-to-face field survey of citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina.The data acquisition process in the survey was provided by applying survey forms to randomly selected 284 citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo.Face-to-face interview method was used to collect data.Interviewers read the questions and answers out loud from the questionnaire and marked down the respondents' answers.For this survey, a probability random stratified sample representative of the current population of Bosnia and Herzegovina was used.The sample universe for this survey is population of citizens of the Bosnia and Herzegovina 16 years of age and older.The other basic information regarding the survey is the period of survey.Survey period is from July 5th to October 5th, 2017.
In this study aimed at revealing the perceptions, attitudes, behaviors and views of Bosnia and Herzegovina people about Bosnia and Herzegovina's EU membership, the data obtained from the fieldwork carried out with this target are as follows: -According to your opinion, what is the most important problem in the relations between Bosnia -Herzegovina and EU? -According to your opinion, what is the most important value of the European identity and culture?-Do you think the EU is a 'Christian Club'?-Do you think Bosnia and Herzegovina is a part of European identity and culture?-Do you support the membership of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the EU?
Subsequently, the results are also evaluated in comparison to the Gallup Balkan Monitor studies, Balkan Eurobarometers conducted by the Regional Cooperation Council, Eurobarometer: Public Opinion in Bosnia and Herzegovina conducted by the Prism Research and Sources of Insecurities in Western Balkans and Turkey: Human Security Barometar 2016 conducted by the The Cross-Border Citizens' Network for Peace and Inter-Communal Reconciliation and Human Security average for corresponding topics.
This survey is carried out by the Department of International Relations of the Faculty of Economics of Anadolu University.This research project was supported by Anadolu University Rectorate as the Scientific Research Project with the 1705E137 project number.The survey is expected to shed light on Bosnian public opinion about the EU, EU integration and identity issues.In this process, the economic structure of the country, democratic rights and freedoms, the rule of law and human rights will be examined.In this respect, this study aims to find out the perception, attitude, behavior and knowledge levels of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian people about Bosnia and Herzegovina-EU relations and the EU.The study also explored the possible obstacles Bosnia and Herzegovina may face in the EU accession process.The students, academics and decision-makers in foreign policy matters, non-governmental employees, media professionals, the private sector and the public interested in the subject will be able to benefit from the project results.

BiH-EU Relations: Historical Background
The process of setting up the EU's economic and political relations with the Western Balkans began in 1996 with the adoption of the idea of the 'Regional Approach' by the Union.There are two basic dimensions of the Regional Approach, which will bring the Western Balkan countries closer to the EU.These are political and economic bases. 1 This approach also established political and economic conditionality for the development of bilateral relations between BiH and the EU, in terms of trade, financial assistence and ecenomic cooperation.1-2/1996, https://publications.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/9fc9465a-490b-4c96-8196-9ddd89927af1/language-en,(18.04.2018). 2 European Commission, 2003rd Council Meeting -General Affairs -Luxembourg, 29/30 April 1997http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_PRES-97-129_en.htm?locale=en, (18.04.2018).
The Consultative Task Force was established for peace building and protection civil population between the EU and BiH. 3 In 1999, the EU presented a comprehensive cooperation proposal for the five countries of South-Eastern Europe including BiH in the region called as Stability and Association Pact (SAP). 4In August of the same year, the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH expressed its commitment to the EU.The SAP aims to enhance institution building, economic reconstruction and regional cooperation of the countries in the region for the future EU membership. 5That year also, the EU External Relations Commission published an "EU Road Map" that identified 18 essential steps BiH needed to complete before a feasibility study of its potential suitability for EU membership. 6 June 2000 the Feira European Council officially explained that allt the SAP countries are "potential candidates" for EU membership. 7After this development, another important step about the regional approach of the EU towards the Balkans was taken at the Zagreb Summit in 2000.This Summit is very important because in this Summit the EU launched the SAP in order to develop a strategy towards the countries in the region including BiH. 8 This approach reiterated and confirmed at the Thessaloniki Summit in 2003.In this Summit, the Council of the European Union declared that on the Western Balkans: "The future of this region is in the European Union." 9 Thus, BiHalong with other Western Balkans countries-was identified as a potential candidate for European Union (EU) membership.With this framework, the EU showed its aim to support the Europeanization of the Western Balkans towards their future inclusion into the EU institutional structe. 10 been ratified and entered into force on 1 June 2015 between the partners. 13In February 2016 BiH submited its application to join the EU.The EU adopted Bosnia and Herzegovina's application for membership of the Union on 16 September 2016, and promptly asked the European Commission to examine the extent to which the country conforms to EU criteria. 14On completion of the negotiations, a Treaty of Accession was signed and ratified by the Member States and the European Parliament gave its assent.BiH has Potential candidate membership status in the EU in today. 15And also, The statement made by the European Commission on 6 February 2018 has created a very promising situation for Bosnia and Herzegovina's membership process.The European Commission has announced ambitious plans for a grand, new push toward enlargement, hoping to welcome western Balkan states in the EU within the next seven years.According to Johannes Hahn, the Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations "It's important to 'export stability to the region rather than importing instability to the EU'.Therefore, he believes that by 2025, the countries will be able to become more democratic, constitutional and competitive. 16Bosnia and Herzegovina's (BiH) EU membership perspective and relations with the Union have developed in this context so far.

BiH-EU Relations: Financial Assistance and Trade Relations
Between 1995 and 2008, EU assistance to Bosnia amounted 2.8 billion Euro under the CARDS and Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA).Between 2007 and 2013, Bosnia and Herzegovina benefited from 615 million euro from the IPA which aims at providing targeted financial assistance to countries which are candidates and potential candidates for membership to the EU. 17 For the period of 2014-2020 165 million Euro allocated for Bosnia and Herzegovina. 18In particular, IPA has found financial support for the realization of projects in various fields in Bosnia and Herzegovina.These projects were prioritized in economic and political areas.Respect for human rights as well as minority rights and gender equality are among these projects.Other political projects are: support the development of civil society and strengthen democratic institutions and the rule of law, reform in public administration.Apart from these areas IPA accomplish economic reforms, push forward regional co-operation, and help to sustainable development and reduction of poverty. 19e EU is the basic trading partner of BiH.BiH has gained EU market access through the EU since 2000.After come into force of the Interim Agreement, access of products from Bosnia and Herzegovina to the EU spreaded, and the EU exports to the country have been granted as trade preferences.According to the last three progress reports,20 BiH has achieved a high level of trade integration with the EU.In addition to that the EU still the main trading partner of Bosnia and Herzegovina.The share of exports to the EU increased to 73,5%, while imports from the EU decreased slightly to 60% of total imports. 21The most important EU countries trade partners are Germany and Croatia.

Table 1: Demography
In the survey, 38% of respondents are male and 62% are female.49,6% of respondents younger than 25 years old.16% of the survey participants are between 25 and 29 years old.12,1% of the survey participants are between to 30-34 and 12,8% of them between 35-39 years old,.8,8% of the partipants are 40 and older years old.
When it comes to the highest degree completed of formal education, 16,1% of respondents have high school degree, 65,7% both academy/vocational school and university education, 14,4% of respondents have completed master degree and 3,5% of respondents have completed Phd.In the survey, 50,9% of respondents are student, 25,8% respondents are working in private sector, 4,4% respondents are civil servant.In this survey, 94% respondents (268 people) said that they have knowledge about the EU.6% of the participants (16 people) said that they don't have knowledge about the European Union.37% of the respondents (106 people) said that they have knowledge in the middle level, 36% participants (102 people) have some knowledge, and 21% participants (60 peope) have lots of knowledge about the EU.According to the responses of the participants the support for EU membership is quite high in Bosnia and Herzegovina.204 of the 283 participants supported Bosnia and Herzegovina's EU membership.This number corresponds to 72%.79 participants opposed Bosnia Herzegovina's EU membership.This number corresponds to 28%.
According to research conducted by the Gallup Balkan Monitor in BiH in 2006, 66% of the respondents thought that EU membership was a good thing, according to 8% of the respondents thought that EU membership was a bad thing.For the 16% of the respondents EU membership was neither good or bad. 22When we look at Gallup's 2008 research only half of the respondents (48%) thought that membership of the EU would be good for their country, approximately one-third thought (31%) it would be neither good nor bad and one in 10 thought that it would be a bad thing (11%).Again according to the same research sixteen percent thought that BiH would never be accepted in the EU as a member and one in 10 thought that this would only happen in the distant future, after 2020.One in five respondents expected the country to be ready for accession between 2016 and 2020. 23In 2010 respondents thought that membership of the EU would be good for their country 69% in 2010.In addition, respondents in the survey were pessimistic about the entry date of their country to the EU and did not expect membership before 2018. 24similar question was asked in the research of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC).The question was: "Do you think that EU membership would be (is-for Croatia) a good thing, a bad thing, or neither good nor bad?".According to the work the rate of those who say "EU membership is good thing" is 33%.The rate of those who say "EU membership is bad thing" is 21%.The rate of those who say "EU membership is neither good nor bad" is 42%.The results of the RCC's 2017 study are as follows: "EU membership is good thing" is 31%, "EU membership is bad thing" is 18%, "EU membership is neither good nor bad" is 46%. 25at does the European Union personally mean for you?
Graphic 3: For me, the EU means freedom of travel to any EU member country.280 of the 284 participants answered this question.Related with this question 131 of 280 people said that "I agree", 91 of them said that "I strongly agree."The total percantage rate of the "I agree and I strongly agree" is 82%.The percentage of respondents who answered "I do not agree" and "I strongly disagree" with this question is 9%.This rate corresponds to 26 people.Only 7 percent of respondents say "I Disagree" and only 2 percent say "I strongly disagree."The percentage of respondents who answered "I have no idea" is 9% (26 participants).In the study conducted by the RCC in 2016, the response to the similar statement was 23 percent.This ratio was measured as 28 percent by the RCC in 2017. 25Regional Cooperation Council, Balkan Barometer 2017-Public Opinion Survey, Sarajevo, 2017, p. 54.http://www.rcc.int/seeds/files/RCC_BalkanBarometer_PublicOpinion_2017.pdf,(16.01.2018).Graphic 4: For me, the EU means freedom of work in any EU member country.
79 percent of the respondents said they "agree" with this idea.Among them, the rate of "I agree" is 45%.The rate of "I strongly agree" is 34 percent.The total number of people who say "I disagree and I strongly disagree" is 24.The percentage of this figure is 8 percent.Only 1 percent of respondents said "I strongly disagree."These figures show us that Bosnian Herzegovina citizens are primarily associate EU membership with freedom of work in any EU member country.13% of the participants did not give any opinion.We can compare these results with works of the RCC.The results of the RCC in 2016 and 2017 are as follows: 19% and 23%.The percentage of the participants who say "For me, the EU stands for freedom of learning in any EU Member State" is 70% (197 people).Among them, the rate of "I agree" is 43%.The rate of "I strongly agree" is 27 percent The percentage of the participants who "disagree" with this view is 11% (29 people).19% of the participants did not give any opinion (53 people).The total number of respondents who answered this question is 279.Weak institutions and lack of democracies are the most important obstacles in front of the political and economic development of the BiH.Again these two basic problems make it hard to realization of the reform programs in the country.This leads to a very low performance of the country's economy.This situation leads to declining living standards, rising unemployment and increased poverty. 26Therefore, considering the high amount of the young population among the survey participants, we can say that a significant proportion of the participants regarded the EU as a force that could overcome the economical and political problems of the state.In this perspective, a little more than half of the participants (54% of the participants means 150 person) have stated that the EU has come to mean economic prosperity for them.The percentage of those who say "I strongly agree" is 19 percent.The percentage of those who say "I agree" is 35%.The total number of people who do not share this view is 58.This number corresponds to 21%.At this rate, the participant saying "I strongly disagree" is 7%, the participant saying "I disagree" is 14%.25% of the participants did not give any opinion (71 people).It is also possible to compare these numbers with other field 26 Demetropoulou, op.cit., p. 88. researchs.The results of the RCC in 2016 and 2017 are as follows related with this comment: 29% and 31%.
Graphic 7: For me, the EU expresses peace.
The percentage of the participants who say "For me, the EU expresses peace" is 46% (126 people).The percentage of those who say "I strongly agree" is 15 percent (42 people).The percentage of those who say "I agree" is 31% (84 people).The total number of people who do not share this view is 78.This number corresponds to 28%.At this rate, the participant saying "I strongly disagree" is 8%, the participant saying "I disagree" is 20%.26% of the participants did not give any opinion (72 people).The total number of respondents who answered this question is 276.The results of the RCC in 2016 and 2017 are as follows related with this comment: %20 and %22.45% of the respondents indicated that they participated the expression of Graphic 8 while 30% of the respondents stated that they did not participate in this opinion.The percentage of those who say "I have no idea" is 25%.This data shows us almost half of the participants defend that If Bosnia and Herzegovina becomes a member of the EU their cultural identities will not be lost.The total rate of those who defend this view is 49%.This rate corresponds to 135 people.The percentage of respondents who say "I strongly disagree" is 24%.The proportion of respondents who say "I Disagree" is 24%.Whereas, the percentage of those who defend the idea that cultural identities will be lost is 27 percent.This rate corresponds to 135 people.278 of 284 participants answered this question.67 of 287 participants did not give any opinion.Graphic 10: If Bosnia and Herzegovina becomes a member of the EU, unemployment will increase in the country.
The rate of survey participants who think that If Bosnia and Herzegovina becomes a member of the EU, unemployment will increase is 21%.This ratio indicates 57 of 277 people who answered this question.Whereas 48% of the participants do not agree with this view.This ratio indicates 134 of 277 people who answered this question.31 percent of respondents preferred "I have no idea" option.This ratio indicates 86 of 277 people who answered this question.
Graphic 11: For me, the EU is the provision of social protection.
According to 46% of respondents, EU means the provision of social protection.This rate corresponds to 130 people.While the percentage of those who do not think in a similar way is 11%.This rate corresponds to 56 people.In the survey, the answer "I have no idea" with the maximum number was measured here.This rate is 33%.This rate corresponds to 91 people.The results of the RCC in 2016 and 2017 are as follows related with this comment: %12 and %16.
Graphic 12: For me, the EU is cultural diversity.
According to 63% of respondents (170 people), the EU is for cultural diversity.12% percent of respondents (25 People) do not agree with this view.25% of participants (69 people) said they did not have information.The total number of respondents who answered this question is 274.On the other hand, in a survey conducted by Prisim in 2010, the participants defend that process of joining BiH to EU threatens its specific domestic culture.The question related with this expression was: "Process of joining BiH to EU threatens its specific domestic culture".According to results nearly one half of respondents (41%) tends to generally agree with this statement.A total of 15% of respondents disagree with this statement.33% of the participants preferred "neither agree nor disagree" option.Graphic 13: Do you think when Bosnia and Herzegovina can be a full member of the EU?
282 of 284 respondents answered this question.252 of 282 people (89%) are in the expectation that Bosnia Herzegovina's EU membership will take place in different time intervals.According to results majority of participants are optimistic about the Bosnia and Herzegovina's EU membership in the near future.Because, the results gave the percentage of participants who chose between 5-10 years is 40%.This rate corresponds to 113 people.Also, from the participants who have chosen the option "Less than 5 Years" is 9%.This rate corresponds to 24 people The second largest group is those who choose between "11-20 years."Their rate is 30%.This rate corresponds to 86 people.The rate of those who prefer between "21-50 years" is 10%.This rate corresponds to 29 people.Also, the percentage of those who think that EU membership will never happen is 10%.
We can compare this results with the field researches of RCC in 2016 and in 2017.In the work carried out by the RCC in 2016 the proportion of participants who responded by 2020 is 20%.The proportion of respondents who responded by 2025 is 18% and the proportion of respondents who respond by 2030 is 15%.The percentage of those who think that EU membership will never happen is 33%.According to the RCC's 2017 study the results are as follows: the proportion of participants who responded by 2020 is 15%, the proportion of respondents who responded by 2025 is 23%, the proportion of respondents who respond by 2030 is 15%, the percentage of those who think that EU membership will never happen is 33% as the same previous year. 28e main reason for this differences between the author survey and RCC survey is that the participants of the survey made by the author have a younger population.221 of the 282 participants have a "16-34" age range.This figure corresponds to 77,7%.On the other hand, this rate is 27% in the research of RCC.In this respect, we can say that young people look at the EU membership process more positively than the middle and older people.The answer to this question provides us to concrete data on Bosnia and Herzegovina's people's confidence about the EU.This result shows us that a significant part of the public does not trust the EU.We can say that the most important reason for this situation is the identity and culture that the country has.Because Muslim identity, which is widely owned by the public in BiH, is seen as an obstacle in front of the to the BiH for its EU membership.Indeed, there have been suspicions regarding the willingness of the EU to incorporate a state with such a large Muslim population.Therefore an uneasy relationship exists between EU and Bosnian Muslims.The change of this situation depends on the EU's promise to the people of Bosnia and its fulfillment of these promises.Mixed signals from the EU, wrong approach or 28 http://www.rcc.int/seeds/files/RCC_BalkanBarometer_PublicOpinion_2017.pdf,(14.01.2018).tough conditions without the necessary assistance could spoil the process of integration of Bosnia into the EU. 29In this framework, 269 of 284 respondents answered this question.63% of respondents think that the EU is not acting frankly towards Bosnia and Herzegovina.This rate corresponds to 170 people.Whereas, 37% of respondents think that the EU is acting frankly towards Bosnia and Herzegovina.This rate corresponds to 99 people.The proportion of respondents who indicated that Bosnia and Herzegovina is not acting frankly towards EU is 64 percent.This rate corresponds to 165 people.Wheras, 37% of respondents think that Bosnia and Herzegovina is acting frankly towards EU.This rate corresponds to 94 people.259 of 284 respondents answered this question.This question was asked to participants to measure their knowledge about the EU.227 of 284 respondents answered this question.The correct answer to this question is 28.135 of 227 responded correctly to this question.This figure means 59,5% of the participants.10,6% of the respondents answered this question as 27.This rate corresponds to 24 people.According to the answers given to this question, it shows that a little more than half of the participants have knowledge about the EU.The most important reason for this outcome is that 49,6% (this rate corresponds to 140 people) of the participants are between the ages of 16-24 and 65,7% (this rate corresponds to 167 people) of the participants are university graduates or university students.Within the scope of this question, five different options were offered to participants.According to 39% of participants "Bosnia Herzegovina's Economic Problems" is the most important problem between the BiH and EU relations.This rate corresponds to 109 people.This is followed by the option of religious differences (26%).This rate corresponds to 72 people.The third place is the human rights issue with a rate of 15%.This rate corresponds to 41 people.It is followed by a lack of democracy with 14%.This rate corresponds to 41 people.6% of respondents considered border disputes as a important problem between the Bosnia Herzegovina-EU relations.This rate corresponds to 17 people.280 of the 282 participants answered this question.Nearly majority of respondents stated that they were in a European country before.The percentage of respondents is 93%.Only 7 percent of participants said that they were not in any European countries before.The most important reason for this outcome is that 49.6% (this rate corresponds to 140 people) of the participants are between the ages of 16-24 and 50,9% (this rate corresponds to 140 people) of the participants are university students.Within the scope of this question, six different options were offered to participants.37% of the participants saw the concepts of "basic human rights, democracy and freedom" as the most important values of European identity and culture.This rate corresponds to 103 people.This response is followed by "economic development" with 35%.This rate corresponds to 99 people.Third place is "science, literature, philosophy and art" with 11%.This rate corresponds to 31 people.This answer followed by "history" with 7%.this rate corresponds to 19 people.According to 5% of participants, "cultural dialogue" is the most important value of European culture and identity.Again according to 5% of participants, "Christianity and its own culture" is the most important value of European culture and identity.The EU initiated in December 2014 a renewed approach to Bosnia and Herzegovina which provides for the re-sequencing of the conditionalities in order for the country to progress towards the EU and address the socioeconomic challenges it faced.In this framework as the results of other research unemployment is clearly a worrying issue for citizens in the BiH.In this survey according to 178 of the 281 participants who answered this question the most important issue facing Bosnia Herzegovina currently is unemployment and economic crisis.The rate of this answer is 63%.According to participants the second important issues facing Bosnia Herzegovina currently is border and ethnic issues.The rate of this answer is 19%.The other ratios are as follows: Migration issues 8% (23 participants), terrorism 4% (11 participants), Environmental issues and Energy issues 2,8% of both (8 participants of both).
The same pattern can be seen in the other work carried out by the Regional Cooperation Council in 2016.According to the survey main concerns of the BiH population are unemployment 72% and economic situation 45% in their economy, followed by corruption in third place 27%. 30Regional Cooperation Council, Balkan Barometer 2016-Public Opinion Survey, Sarajevo, 2016, p. 42. http According to 73% of respondents, Bosnia and Herzegovina is a part of European identity and culture.Whereas, 27% of the participants do not think that way.267 of the 282 participants answered this question.56% of the participants think that the EU is a "Christian Club".This rate corresponds to 149 people.44% of the participants think that the EU is not a 'Christian Club'.This rate corresponds to 118 people.Also, 56 participants of the 149 people who say the EU is a 'Christian Club', have stated that EU membership will cause the loosing of cultural identity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.However, think that the most important value of the European identity and culture is 'economic development'.These results show us the EU perceived as a key for the solving economical problem of the BiH by the participants.Finally, participants regard Bosnia and Herzegovina's economic troubles as the most important obstacle to membership.
Thirdly, we examined how the Bosnian Herzegovinian people perceive the EU in the context of the cultural dimension.The information we obtain from the public survey here is closely related to the following question: Does the Muslim identity, which is widely represented by the public in BiH, is seen as an obstacle in front of BiH for its EU membership?56% of the participants think that the EU is a "Christian Club."However, according to 73% of respondents, Bosnia and Herzegovina is a part of the European identity and culture.Also, 37% of the participants saw the concepts of "basic human rights, democracy and freedom" as the most important values of European identity and culture.Whereas, just 5% of participants, "Christianity and its own culture" is the most important value of European culture and identity.But at the same time, Muslim identity of the BiH is perceived as an invisible barrier by the participants for their membership to the EU.

Graphic 2 :
Do you support the membership of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the EU? knowledge I have some knowledge I have knowledge in the middle level I have lots of information

Graphic 5 :
For me, the EU means freedom of learning for any EU member country.

Graphic 6 :
For me, the EU means economic prosperity.

Graphic 8 :
For me, the EU expresses democracy.

Graphic 9 :
If Bosnia and Herzegovina becomes a member of the EU, our cultural identity will be lost.

Graphic 14 :
Do you think that the EU is acting frankly towards Bosnia and Herzegovina?

Graphic 15 :
Do you think that the Bosnia and Herzegovina is acting frankly towards EU?

Graphic 16 :
How many countries are members of the European Union?

Graphic 17 :
According to your opinion, what is the most important problem in the relations between Bosnia-Herzegovina and EU?

Graphic 19 :
According to your opinion, what is the most important value of the European identity and culture?

Graphic 20 :
According to your opinion, what is the most important issue facing Bosnia Herzegovina currently?

Graphic 22 :
Do you think that the EU is a 'Christian Club'?
2Immediately after this date, in 1998,

Graphic 18 :
Have you ever been to any European countries?
://www.rcc.int/seeds/files/RCC_BalkanBarometer_PublicOpinion_2016.pdf,(14.01.2018).Do you think that Bosnia and Herzegovina is a part of European identity and culture?