One out of two respondents (47.1%) are against any change of (Macedonia) name, finds the poll of the Macedonian Center for International Cooperation (MCIC) and the Institute for Democracy "Societas Civilis" Skopje (IDSCS). ‘Erga omnes’ is the least acceptable solution and this position enjoys the highest support in comparison to all surveys thus far.
The gap between ethnic Macedonians and ethnic Albanians is expanding with regard to the name solution, namely 44.6% of ethnic Macedonians will favor ‘keeping the name’ against ‘Euro-Atlantic integration’, while 90.1 of ethnic Albanians chose the ‘Euro-Atlantic integration’. The gap would be most prominent in case of a referendum on the name change – 85% of ethnic Albanians would vote ‘in favor’ against 62% of ethnic Macedonians, MCIC said Wednesday in a press release.
A merged name, for example (Gornamakedonija), is unacceptable for the overwhelming majority of respondents (79.1%), which is even more pronounced among ethnic Macedonians (89.9%).
The majority of respondents (51%) completely or to some extent, do not justify the renaming of the airport and the highway. 65.6% of them are against the removal of the monument "Warrior on a Horse". While it is unacceptable for 77.9% of ethnic Macedonians, it is acceptable to 69% of ethnic Albanians.
35.6 percent of respondents consider that a possible agreement on the name should enter into force when Macedonia will become EU member.
The identity issue continues to be the red line, the poll finds. Defining the nationality and citizenship as Macedonian is accepted by 47.9% of the respondents. Certain variations as Latin or dual-use enjoy the support of 25.3%. Only 14.4% of those polled accept a definition – ‘citizen of the Republic of Upper Macedonia’. The respondents consider language (27.45%), constitution (23.5%) and citizenship (23.1%) as the most important instruments for preserving the identity of Macedonian people.
Almost half of the respondents (45.1%) believe that changing the name will alter the identity against 17.8% who believe that no situation can change Macedonian identity. 48.3% of the respondents are against any amendments of the constitution. Changing the constitution to define (Macedonia) international name is acceptable for 18.3% of the population.
The pool also finds that the support for calling a referendum on the name issue has been growing and this year it is favored by the 71.4% of the respondents.
The poll was conducted on 5-20 April 2018 on national representative sample of 1004 respondents.
