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Lithuanian residents positively evaluate the country’s upcoming Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2013, the opinion poll results show. On 3-12 December, this public opinion survey was carried out at the request of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.The majority of respondents (43 per cent) said that the EU Presidency would be useful for Lithuania, while 16 per cent of respondents disagreed with it.

66 per cent of the respondents, who positively evaluated the country’s upcoming Presidency of the Council of the European Union, said that Lithuania’s Presidency would be able to defend its own interests within the EU, 53 per cent believed that this would be a great opportunity to present Lithuania as a country which is attractive for investment and tourism, and 45 per cent expected that the Presidency would have a positive impact on the Lithuanian economy.

The majority of the respondents who doubted the benefit of the Presidency thought that Lithuania had too little influence in the EU and would not be able to achieve its goals (51 per cent), and feared that it would be costly to taxpayers (48 per cent).

Lithuanian residents think that Lithuania’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union should focus on the EU’s energy security (58 per cent), the promotion of economic development and employment (52 per cent), and the EU’s relations with Russia (43 per cent).

46 per cent of the respondents believe that the EU should continue to enlarge, while 21 per cent opposed it. Those who supported the EU’s enlargement spoke in favour of the accession of Norway (54 per cent), Ukraine (46 per cent), and Switzerland (44 per cent) to the European Union.

The public opinion poll was carried out at the request of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by the Market and Opinion Research Centre “Vilmorus Ltd.” On 3-12 December, the centre interviewed 1003 adult Lithuanian citizens in 17 cities and 51 villages. The poll was carried out as part of the project “The Increase in the Efficiency of Lithuania’s EU Affairs System”, funded by the European Social Fund.