Citizens Trust Dnevnik

by H.I.

Dnevnik, Skopje, Macedonia, May 31, 2001

In the tense atmosphere in Macedonia, the citizens trust privately owned media more than the state-controlled media, indicates a poll conducted by the U.S. Department of State. The privately owned daily Dnevnik is the most trusted medium. The poll was conducted by the polling agency Brima between April 16 and May 3, and included 1091 adults (787 Macedonians and 227 ethnic Albanians). The conclusion is that the citizens are watching TV more but believe that daily newspapers are a more reliable source of information.

Dnevnik is trusted by 65 percent of poll participants, 77% of whom are ethnic Macedonians, and 24% ethnic Albanians. Half of ethnic Albanian poll participants said that they did not trust Dnevnik.

The poll took into account all the daily newspapers and political magazines, and the Macedonian TV. 57% of citizens said they trusted information provided by the Macedonian TV. The next on the list is Utrinski Vesnik, trusted by 45% and with a very low degree of trust among ethnic Albanians, only 7%, similarly to Vest, which received a positive grade from 42% of citizens.

41% of citizens consider Vecer to be a reliable source of information, 36% consider Macedonia Denes to be trustworthy, 32% Denes, 30% Nova Makedonija, 28% Start, 26% Fokus, 23% Zum, 21% Fakti, 21% Flaka, 20% Puls, and 13% Kapital.

Macedonians find Fakti and Flaka [Albanian language publications] least trustworthy (only 4% view them as reliable sources of information), while ethnic Albanians were most mistrustful of Vecer (62%), Nova Makedonija (61%) and Utrinski Vesnik (59%).

As many as 83% of ethnic Albanians consider Fakti to be a reliable source of information.

Poll By Center for Ethnic Relations

Macedonians Oppose Changes of Constitution

In case of an outbreak of inter-ethnic clashes, 35% of ethnic Macedonians and 40% of ethnic Albanians would side with their ethnic group

Dnevnik, Skopje, Macedonia, May 30, 2001

To the question whether the Constitution should be changed, 83 percent of ethnic Macedonian poll participants said no. Among ethnic Albanian poll participants, 77 percent thought that the Constitution should be changed. Among ethnic Macedonian poll participants, 7 percent agree that the constitution should be changed, but not now. These responses were obtained in the research project named "Security culture and internal stability of Macedonia". The project was conducted by the Center for Inter-Ethnic Relations in the Institute for Sociology, Political Science and Legal Research earlier this month, between May 1 and 8 (after the massacre of eight Macedonian policemen in Vejce and before the formation of the political unity government). The poll included 1,600 participants.

According to the results of the poll, 55 percent of ethnic Macedonians are willing to give up some of their rights in order to prevent war, while only 19 percent of ethnic Albanians were willing to do the same. To the question which neighboring country is the biggest threat to Macedonia, 65 percent of ethnic Macedonians identified Kosovo, while Albania is next on the list of perceived threats. Among ethnic Albanians, Serbia is viewed as the biggest threat by 38 percent of ethnic Albanian poll participants.

According to the results of the poll, in case of a military conflict 65 percent of ethnic Macedonians would respond to a mobilization call from the Army of Macedonia, in comparison with 17 percent of ethnic Albanians. In case of an outbreak of inter-ethnic clashes, 35 percent of ethnic Macedonians and 40 percent of ethnic Albanians would join the conflict on the side of their ethnic group. On the other hand, 17 percent of ethnic Macedonians and 15 percent of ethnic Albanians would join a peace movement.

Regarding the attitude with respect to the role of international organizations, 35 percent of poll participants believe that the EU can help the country the most, 20 percent see the United Nations in that role, while 18 percent opted for NATO. Citizens believe that membership in the European Union would provide condition for faster economic development (45 percent agree with that statement). Among ethnic Albanian poll participants 49 percent believe that that would result in increased respect for human rights, and 29 percent of them chose improved economic development.

If elections were held tomorrow, 28 percent of poll participants would vote for the SDSM, 10 percent for the VMRO-DPMNE, 9.5 percent for the DPA and three percent for the PDP. To the question "do you support early elections?" 63 poll participants responded affirmatively, while 22 percent were opposed.

Kiro Gligorov enjoys the highest rating among politicians, followed by Risto Penov, the leader of the LDP, then president Boris Trajkovski, the president of the SDSM, Branko Crvenkovski, former minister of foreign affairs Srgjan Kerim and others. On the list of ethnic Albanian politicians, the leader of the DPA, Arben Xhaferi is in the lead, followed by Rufi Osmani, deputy prime minister Xhevdet Nasufi, Imer Imeri and Naser Ziberi.

Translated on August 20, 2001