Bulgarians have celebrated the New Year and the country's EU accession with fanfares, but nearly half of them are unaware of the benefits this alliance would bring them, according to a fresh study.

Some 44% of respondents claim this, while 15-16% still do not recognize what changes would the membership trigger in the long term.

The opinion poll carried out by the National Center for Public Opinion Research (NCIOM) approached 1000 Bulgarians from 86 towns and cities in the country.

Respondents aged 50 and more, those with lower education and lower incomes have appeared to top the list of optimists, the results showed.

A third of respondents (29%) expressed extreme pessimism believing their lives will rather turn for the worse than for the better.

Yet, an impressive majority of 72% of Bulgarians said they approve the EU membership of the country.

Most of them (30%) fear increased prices of foods and services, which will deteriorate their life standard.

Every fourth respondent (25%) showed off no-fear attitude towards this historic moment, predominantly shared by men, younger people and district city centers, the research said.

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