Maltese People Have The Highest Positive Opinion About Their Country In The Entire EU
It’s official; the ever-patriotic Maltese have, unsurprisingly, some of the highest positive opinions in the EU about their country, according to the latest EU Barometer survey.
A mammoth 87% of Maltese respondents (the highest out of all 27 states) said that the current situation in the country is either very good or rather good, miles ahead of the 50% average for the whole of the EU.
96% of respondents said they are very satisfied with the life they lead. This places Malta at the same level as Denmark, Luxembourg and Sweden, and just 1% lower than Ireland, with 39% also expecting their life to get better in the coming twelve months
63% of people said that things in Malta were generally going in the right direction, with 13% stating the opposite
8% of respondents expected the country to get worse over the coming twelve months.
Meanwhile, 48% also stated that their quality of life at present is better than it was before, with 43% saying it was better before than now.
In light of the increase in refugee arrivals and worsening diplomatic crisis in the EU over the issue, immigration (50%) is the main concern of Maltese people at the moment.
Housing (29%), the environment(28%), crime (19%), and rising prices and inflation (19%) are also key issues.
Fieldwork was conducted between the 8th and 22nd November 2018. A total of 503 face–to–face interviews were conducted with respondents residing in Malta and aged 15 years and over.
Respondents were also asked to mention the three most important values for them personally from a list presented to them. Peace (50%), Respect for human life (50%) and human rights (44%) topped the list.
On an EU-level, Maltese also feel very positively about the EU, what it stands for, and their own membership, somewhat of a growing rarity in the Mediterranean. In fact, the opinions found in the survey are more similar to those found in northern European countries, rather than those in Southern or Eastern Europe.
Are you surprised by these findings? Let us know in the comments
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