Romanians trust the Army and Church but have little confidence in political institutions, survey says

The Army and the Church continue to be the most trusted institutions in Romania, while the Government and Parliament face low levels of confidence, according to a recent INSCOP survey conducted for News.ro. Moreover, the poll revealed that the level of confidence in the country’s top political institutions is even lower than 10 years ago.

“There is a lower trust in the Government and Parliament in 2023 compared to 2013, a situation perfectly explainable given that the current assessment is made after a period of successive crises (pandemic, economic crisis, social difficulties, changes of governments), which have eroded the confidence of Romanians,” said Remus Ştefureac, the director of INSCOP.

The Army is the most trusted institution in Romania, with 70.4% of Romanians saying they have high or very high confidence in the armed forces (up from 65.4% in 2013). The Church comes second with 62.5% (compared to 65.2% in 2013).

Next in the ranking of trust are NATO with 55.4% high and very high confidence (compared to 52.1% in 2013), the European Union with 50.3% (compared to 49.3% in 2013), the Police with 48.6% (compared to 46% 10 years ago), the National Bank - 43.3% (compared to 51.2% in 2013), and the City Hall with 41% (compared to 39.6% in 2013).

On the other hand, Romanians have little confidence in the Presidential Administration - 29.8% this year vs 25.8% in 2013, the Government - 19.4% (compared to 34.8% in 2013), and the Parliament -17.4% (26.7% in 2013).

The opinion poll was conducted by INSCOP Research between October 23 and November 2 through the CATI method (telephone interviews) on a sample of 1,100 people aged 18 and over.

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