Three quarters of citizens have a positive attitude towards the EU, 80.2% would support Montenegro's accession to the EU in a referendum

The high level of citizens 'support for Montenegro's membership in the European Union has been strengthened and stabilized, according to the survey "Citizens' Attitudes on European Integration and the EU Accession Process", conducted by DeFacto for the European Union Delegation to Montenegro late last year. .

The results showed that three quarters of citizens, ie 75.5% of them have a positive attitude towards the European Union, which is almost 4 percent more than in June 2021. There was also an increase in the number of citizens who support Montenegro's accession to the European Union, 74.6%. At the same time, the number of citizens who strongly support EU accession reached an almost record high of 41.7 percent.

"About three quarters of the respondents believe that Montenegro's membership in the EU will bring them more benefits than harm. Of those who would go to a hypothetical referendum on Montenegro's accession to the EU, 80.2% would vote in favor of accession, "explained Stevan Kandic, director of the agency" DeFacto "during the presentation of research results.

One third of citizens see the European Union as a key partner of Montenegro and the largest foreign donor. "And 37.2 percent claim that the EU has shown the most solidarity towards Montenegro in the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic," Kandic added.

The Ambassador of the European Union to Montenegro, Oana Kristina Popa, reminded that in December 2020, record public support was achieved for EU membership, and that this high level of trust in the Union has now been strengthened and stabilized.

"Since she put our values, solidarity and trust in each other to the test in 2021, I am very happy that the EU support has been very well received and appreciated by the citizens of Montenegro. Namely, the public opinion poll that we present today tells us that in the past year, in some important aspects, the support of Montenegrin EU citizens has further strengthened, "said Popa.

On the other hand, more than half (53.6%) of respondents believe that Montenegro is moving very slowly or not moving fast enough towards the EU, which is 13% more than at the end of 2020.

"I believe that this is a very strong message to the elected representatives of the people of Montenegro, calling on them to work together, implement key rule of law reforms and enable Montenegro to move forward on its path to the EU." The EU will be there to help, "said Ambassador Popa.

"So, the citizens have clearly and loudly said that the European future of Montenegro is an issue of national interest that should be above party divisions. In that sense, the EU can only expect all Montenegrin institutions and political parties to act in accordance with the expectations of the citizens, constructively cooperating and concretely acting in the direction of achieving further European reforms, "the ambassador emphasized.

Montenegro's chief negotiator with the European Union, Zorka Kordic, believes Montenegro will be the next member of the union. Kordić pointed out that the data confirm the stable commitment of citizens to the EU, but also that they oblige the entire society to unite on a joint project, which is Montenegro's membership in the EU.

"In that process, the voice of young people should be stronger, and youth policies should be permeated in all public policies that we improve in the process of European integration." Also, the voice of women in business, entrepreneurs, agricultural workers, researchers, academics, our local communities - because this is a project of our entire society, "said Kordić.

The survey "Citizens' attitudes about European integration and the process of joining the European Union" was conducted by the "DeFacto" agency, in the period from November 19 to December 4, on a sample of 1,000 citizens, with a statistical error of +/- 3.1 percent.