Study: Majority of Arab populations critical of EU

BRUSSELS, Dec 2 (KUNA) -- A study carried out in 12 Arab countries shows that a majority of the Arab population is sceptical towards the European Union.
The German research foundation called Clusters of Excellence that carried out the study in a press release Friday said that the major reason for this attitude is rejection of external interference in domestic affairs of Arab countries.
"In almost all of the countries included in the study, a minority of respondents - between 10 and 45 per cent - see the EU as positive", said Professor. Dr. Bernd Schlipphak, political scientist from foundation.
"The stronger the desire for national self-determination is among the population, not least after the Arab Spring, the more negative is the perception of the EU," he opines.
"Religion, in contrast, plays a much lesser role for the scepticism towards the EU in countries influenced by Islam than has so far been assumed", according to Prof. Schlipphak. "Our analyses indicate that the perception of the EU is not influenced by closeness to a religious leader," he noted.
The countries analysed were Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Egypt, Sudan, Algeria, Morocco, Yemen, Libya, Tunisia and Iraq.
In the light of the research results, he recommends the EU to "take the sensitivities within the population seriously when it comes to the EU's foreign-policy objectives in Arab countries." (end) nk.bs