Increased number of citizens who support the accession of Montenegro to the EU

(Podgorica, Montenegro – 18 December 2018) The percentage of citizens supporting Montenegro's accession to the European Union has increased in comparison to last year (62%) and now stands at 65.9%, while the number of those who do not support integration is 23.5%, according to a survey conducted by the agency Defacto for the needs of the Delegation of the European Union in Montenegro.

The largest support was recorded in the north of Montenegro – even 74.9% of the inhabitants of the region support accession. The percentages are similar when citizens are asked about their opinion on the European Union, 67.4% of them have a positive attitude, while 23.6% have a negative attitude. Among young people under 35 this figure is even higher, so almost three quarters (74.5%) have a positive attitude towards the EU.

The main negotiator, Aleksandar Drljević, said that he is pleased with the data showing that the citizens of Montenegro do not have a dilemma that the future of our country is in the EU.

"This level of support is a strong motivational factor for further work, as it shows that all activities aimed at informing the public about the integration process had a good echo and gave the results that the citizens recognized. The fact that citizens perceive the positive effects of EU presence and financial support shows that a good job has been done to promote EU programs and pre-accession support," Drljević noted.

The Ambassador of the European Union to Montenegro, Aivo Orav, said that there are plenty of good news in the research, and that the main one is that the support to the European Union has increased.

"It is a very important element in the society to connect different groups, because society is quite polarized, but it seems that European integration is what brings people together about the common goal. I think that this is not only interesting for us, but also a message from all political parties and actors in the country, that it is important that they bring Montenegro closer to the European Union, because it is something about which the society is united," Orav emphasised.

The survey showed that 77.3% of citizens would go to the referendum on accession. If we take into consideration only those citizens who would take part in the referendum and who are already determined, 86% would vote for Montenegro to become a member of the EU, while 14% would oppose it.

More than half of citizens (50.2%) perceive the EU as the largest donor in Montenegro, which is an increase of 3.5 percent over the last year. Also, almost half of the respondents believe that Montenegro should have the strongest connections with the European Union in the future.

Speaking about the perception of the European Union, representative of Defacto, Olivera Komar, said that citizens were offered open answers, to say what is their first association, positive or negative, to the European Union.

"People on the European Union, as positive things, see movement, freedom, standard, the opportunity for a better tomorrow, a better life, community, unity and the rule of law. When negative associations are in question, we have a common fear of losing identity, the topics that have emerged in the last three years - refugees and migrants, and the economic crisis," Komar said.

The largest number of citizens, 34.3%, think that Montenegro is moving as fast as possible in the circumstances of becoming a member of the EU. More than a third of respondents (34.6%) believe that Montenegro will join the European Union by 2025.

The vast majority of the citizens, 82.4%, say that they are informed on a larger or smaller scale about the EU integration process. 37.8% claim that they are interested in EU information, but only in those that concern them personally, and this percentage has increased significantly over the last two years.