EU fosters more trust than state
Greeks trust European Union institutions more than their national ones, according to a new Eurobarometer survey, which also reveals that Greeks have the least faith in the media among all EU citizens. Eight in 10 Greeks do not trust political parties – one of the highest rates among all 27 EU states – according to the survey which was conducted at the end of last year and made public by EU officials in Athens yesterday. In addition, only half (52 percent) of Greeks trust the national Parliament. But nearly the same proportion of Greeks (46 percent) declare that they trust their government, as compared to an average of just 34 percent in other EU countries. Furthermore, 65 percent of Greeks state that they have faith in the EU, a significantly high proportion compared to the EU average of 48 percent. Greeks appear to be even more fond of the European Parliament, with 77 percent saying they trusted it. Greeks also display one of the highest rates (80 percent) of satisfaction with their country’s membership of the EU. The survey also showed Greeks to be the most suspicious of national media, with 62 percent declaring their lack of trust, against an EU average of 49 percent. Greeks are also critical of their television channels, with just 36 percent having a positive view, compared to the EU average of 52 percent. Greeks are distinctly less at ease with the Internet too, with 62 percent saying they mistrust it, significantly above the EU average of 35 percent. The survey examined citizens’ attitudes on a range of other subjects, including the economy and the environment – with Greeks again among the moodiest in the bloc. Three-quarters (72 percent) of all Greek respondents said they believed the state of the environment in their country was «bad.» Only the Hungarians were more despondent on this issue. A similar percentage of Greeks (76 percent) believe that the national economy is in a bad state. Again only Hungary – along with Portugal, Lithuania and Croatia – had a gloomier outlook.
