23.11.2010.
SAF enjoys the highest level of trust
According to the survey conducted by Gallup Balkan Monitor "VIEWS AND PERCEPTIONS: Voices of the Balkans'' the Serbian Armed Forces enjoy the greatest trust of the citizens of Serbia.The army and the church are institutions in Serbia which enjoy the highest level of confidence and such a situation has been stable since 2008, according to a study by the Balkans Monitor in June this year, conducted by Galup, an International Public Opinion Poll Agency, in collaboration with the European Fund for the Balkans.
According to data from this year's survey, the Serbian Army has replaced the church and now comes first, as a state institution which enjoys the highest confidence in the previous three years. Since 2008, the confidence in the Serbian Army has increased from 63 percent to 73 percent in 2010 alone, according to the results of this study.
Previous studies of the Balkan Monitor showed that, in most Balkan countries, the church and the army are the institutions with the highest vote of confidence, while other state institutions still have a lot to do to gain greater public trust.Looking at the demographic profile of the respondents of Gallup Balkan Monitor survey shows that, 77.6 % of respondents aged 15-24 years have confidence in the army, which is 7.8 % more than last year. High level of trust is present mainly in small towns and villages where 75.4 percent of the population has great confidence in the system of defense.
Taking into account the educational structure of the respondents who trust the army most, 76.3 % of them have only elementary education, while 73 % of respondents with who have finished only secondary school, and 65.7 % of those with university education.When comparing regions, the level of trust deposited in Vojvodina, as much as 81.5%, compared to the results from 2009. The level of trust deposited in the army has remained at the same level in Central and Southern Serbia, while in the capital the level trust dropped by 6 percent compared to last year, reaching 59.7 %
Comparison with the surrounding countries
In neighboring countries the trust in the military and the church is at a high level and, for example, in Bosnia it is just below 60 percent, while in Croatia 72 % of respondents trust the army.While in most countries of the Balkans there is an obvious decline of trust in the army since last year, in Montenegro and Serbia, the trust in the military has increased, by 2.9 % in Montenegro and by 3.7 % in Serbia. What singles out Serbia in the countries of the region is a trend of increasing confidence in the army among the male population, while part of the female population showed approximately the same confidence level as last year, about 71% .
Gallup Balkan Monitor is a survey that has been conducted annually since 2006 and includes 1000 respondents from each state in the region.
