Albanians increased their doses of pessimism for EU membership, according to the Balkan Barometer 2022 survey. 

Almost half of the respondents, about 42%, do not expect the country to join before 2030, while 22% of them think that Albania will never become part of the Union. 

The percentage of Albanians who think this way increased by 6 percentage points compared to last year. 

Meanwhile, the percentage of Albanians who believed that Albania will become part of the EU in 2025 fell to 26% from 39% last year. 

The barometer found that 60% of citizens in the Region consider that membership would bring positive changes. At the same time, the number of people who think that membership will have a negative impact on the Region has also increased by 3 points (11% from 8% in 2020), which is the highest result recorded for this category in years. 

While almost a quarter of the citizens in the Balkans consider EU membership neither good nor bad. 

89% of Albanian respondents strongly believe that EU membership will translate into multidimensional development. 

Serbia is again the only economy where citizens think that EU membership is not seen so positively. Only 38% of respondents see benefits in their economy's possible EU membership. 

Further, 36% of the respondents in Serbia did not claim any significant change if their economy becomes a member of the EU. 

On the other hand, 57% of respondents in Montenegro and 56% of those in North Macedonia perceive EU accession as a positive development, while 33% in Bosnia and Herzegovina have neither positive nor negative expectations. 

Also, the negative perception of regional relations shrank significantly. The vast majority of citizens in the Western Balkans (76%) saw a positive correlation between regional cooperation and a better political, security and economic situation. 

The percentage of respondents who were skeptical about the positive socio-economic and political impact of the region remained at relatively low levels, with 18% affirming that they do not agree that cooperation would lead to improvement. 

Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia are more interested in studying and working in the EU (respectively 46%, 39% and 37%). 

Albania also stands out in terms of the belief of its inhabitants that Albania's membership in the EU will improve the country's democratic and economic standards, Monitor writes.