|
In Eastern
and Central European Countries, there is a polarisation
of opinions, but mainly optimism is more dominant. In Bulgaria,
Hungary, Poland and Slovakia pessimism is more present than
optimism.
In EU countries, the Netherlands (13%) and Austria (15%)
are the least optimistic countries, while Sweden (49%) and
France (47%) are the most optimistic countries. Greece and
Portugal have a more polarised opinion and in both countries
the level of pessimism is higher then the level of optimism.
In Greece, 32% of citizens are optimistic, and 39% are pessimistic,
when speaking of the opinion for the New Year.
In the Americas, after Chile, the most optimistic country
is Mexico (62%), while in United States and Dominican Republic
exactly 50% of citizens are optimistic for the year 2001.
In general, compared to the previous year, the level of
pessimism is higher in countries of this region.
Results from
Africa reveal some kind of a balance between optimism and
pessimism, but Nigeria and Zimbabwe are in diametrical positions.
Nigeria is the most optimistic country, while Zimbabwe is
the most pessimistic (73%), not only in Africa, but also
in the whole world.
In the Middle
East, after the United Arab Emirates, the most optimistic
country is Kuwait (56%), and the most pessimistic is Turkey
(37%).
In the Pacific, after Vietnam - included in the survey for
the first time, New Zealand (62%) is the most optimistic
country, while the most pessimistic is Korea.
With the exception of Sweden (43%), which is very optimistic
and as far as economic development is concerned, other EU
countries think that economic situation in 2001 either will
remain the same or will get worse. There is a greater tendency
towards optimism in Central and Eastern Europe, and even
in this aspect Kosova (72%) is the most optimistic not only
in the region, but also in the world. More than half of
respondents in Kosova think that unemployment will decrease
in 2001. In the region, Kosova has the highest rate of unemployment,
which is revealed by the results of this survey - every
fourth respondent is employed, but every second does not
have a safe job.
In EU countries,
the opinion that unemployment will remain the same in 2001
is more dominant, but in France 50% of citizens think that
unemployment will fall slightly.
Out of Middle
East countries, Turkey is the country where most of the
people think that unemployment will increase a lot in 2001,
while this opinion is shared from these Pacific countries:
the Philippines, Korea and Pakistan.
In most of the countries all over the world, respondents
estimate their job is safe, but when asked whether it will
be easy for them to find a new job, there are great differences
in answers. In EU countries, the opinion that a new job
can be found quickly is more dominant in Denmark, the Netherlands,
United Kingdom, Belgium, and the least dominant in Greece,
Austria and Portugal. In Central and Eastern European countries
this opinion is less frequent, while the opposite opinion
"to find a new job can take longer" is more dominant.
Opinions differ
a lot all around the world regarding the question "Will
2001 be a year of strikes and conflicts?" also. Out
of European countries the opinion that number of strikes
will increase is more dominant in Ireland (51%), then in
Poland (48%), France (47%), Kosova and Lithuania (18%),
and Northern Ireland (12%). In the Americas, Paraguay (68%),
Columbia (60%), Bolivia (58%) and Argentina (54%) are the
countries where most of the people think that number of
strikes will increase. In US (55%) most of the people think
that number of strikes will remain the same, while in Mexico
most of them think that number of strikes will decrease.
Same as previous years, 2000 did not pas without conflicts.
In EU countries, but also in other countries of Western
Europe, the number of those who think that 2001 will be
without conflicts is very low. The dominant opinion in these
countries is that this year will also be same as the previous
as far as wars and conflicts are concerned. In Central and
Eastern Europe the number of those who think that 2001 will
be a year without conflicts is higher then in Western European
countries. Kosovar opinion is an exception here again (55%
think that this will be a peaceful year) - taking the first
place in the region, and the third in the world, after Vietnam
and Nigeria. In Serbia, Russia and Macedonia, number of
those who think this will be a year of conflicts is twice
higher.
In Middle
East countries, with the exception of Kuwait, people usually
think that 2001 will be a troubled year. The Americas have
different opinions, but the most different country, where
people think that this will be a peaceful year is Mexico
(37%). Almost half of citizens in US (49%) think that this
year will be the same as the previous, while El Salvador
(70%) is the country, where people mostly think that this
will be a troubled year. In Pacific countries, with the
exception of Vietnam, where 61% of citizens think that this
will be a peaceful year, other countries mainly think that
this year will be the same as the previous one. In Korea
and in Philippines the opinion that this will be a troubled
year is more dominant.
|
