Almost a third of Slovak youth is sceptical about EU membership

As many as 30 percent of Slovaks aged 15 to 24 have said it is a bad thing for their country to be in the EU, appearing on top as the most eurosceptical group in an online opinion poll carried out in late January-early February in Germany, Austria, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic. Only 13 percent of Germans shared a similar view, according to the Bertelsmann Foundation which ordered the poll. "For a clear majority of the young people in Central and Eastern Europe their country's EU membership is a good thing. They especially appreciate the European Union for preserving peace. Also the opportunity to study, live and work in other EU member states is seen positive by a majority. Islamic terrorism is deemed to be the biggest challenge the EU has to face", reads the study. Approximately 60 to 77 percent of surveyed youth expect that the European Union will develop further and that it will be reformed politically and economically.