Of the voters in the Central European region, 51 million people expect an increase in the migration into the European Union in the next decade.
It is mostly the population of the countries on the migratory routes (Serbia, Croatia) who anticipate this increase – according to the opinion poll conducted in 12 Central European countries and regions by Nézőpont Institute for the Hungarian newspaper Magyar Nemzet.
The relevance of opinions on migration is demonstrated by the fact that illegal migration is the main topic of the EP elections campaigns across Europe. Although there is a declining trend compared to the 2015 refugee crisis, in the near future migratory pressure on Europe is expected to grow and not to ease. Respondents from Central European countries also expect this: the relative majority of Central Europeans are aware of the different triggers of migration, with 45 per cent of them saying that migration will increase over the next 10 years, while 32 per cent think it will remain at the current level and only 18 percent predict a declining trend.