Malta ambivalent about Turkey

Slightly more Maltese believe Turkey should be allowed to join the European Union than those who don't, while many still have no opinion on the matter.

According to a recent Eurobarometer survey, carried out last May, 43 per cent of respondents stated that Turkey should become a member of the EU; 39 per cent, said they opposed the idea and the remaining 18 per cent held no opinion on the matter.

The survey was conducted among 500 people by Misco on behalf of the EU.

Among other potential EU members, Turkey is the least popular country with the Maltese. The most popular candidates were the richer ones such as Switzerland, Norway and Iceland - support for their membership among the Maltese respondents surpassed the 70 per cent mark.

The Maltese respondents approved, in their majority, the possible accession of all the other countries listed in the survey, except for Turkey: Bosnia (61 per cent), Croatia (65 per cent), Macedonia (61 per cent), Serbia and Montenegro (57 per cent), Albania (58 per cent), Bulgaria (63 per cent) and Romania (61 per cent).

The idea of Turkish EU membership is even less popular in Europe, with an average 52 per cent of all EU citizens opposing it.

In Austria, 80 per cent are against, almost a quarter more than in 2002. Germany does not lag far behind, with 74 per cent (up 20 per cent on the previous survey). Seventy per cent of French and Greek citizens also reject Turkey's EU bid.