A representative of the NGO Mladiinfo Montenegro attended a conference organized by the EU Info Center on January 15, 2021. The conference presented the results of research on the topic: “Citizens’ attitudes about European integration and the process of Montenegro’s accession to the EU.”
The conference was opened by Olivera Komar from the DeFacto agency, who presented the results of the research.
“The biggest change happened in the category of so-called moderate supporters whose percentage has increased at the expense of moderate opponents of Montenegro’s accession to the European Union. A possible explanation would be that some citizens who were skeptical about the European Union before the parliamentary elections on August 30 changed their attitudes in a positive direction, while those who previously supported integration after the elections did not change their attitudes in a negative direction”, said Olivera Komar.
She said that the year behind us brought a significant jump in the support of Montenegrin citizens to the country’s membership in the European Union, as shown by the results of the research. 77.6% of citizens have a positive attitude towards the EU compared to 66.1% in December 2019, and the number of those who have a negative attitude is decreasing, 17.7% in December 2020 compared to 24.3% in December 2019.
She also said that Montenegro’s membership in the EU is supported by 74.8% of citizens, while 22.3% are against.
The head of the Delegation of the European Union to Montenegro, Oana Kristina Popa, said that such great support of citizens to the European Union implies great expectations, but also great responsibility.
“The fact that today we have a record high level of public support for Montenegro’s integration into the EU clearly tells us that citizens recognize and appreciate the importance and sincerity of EU support in these difficult times”, Popa said.
Public support is an extremely valuable resource and a powerful driver of social change. However, it can be volatile, if it is not supported by real progress and concrete benefits that the citizens of Montenegro will feel even before joining the Union, Popa said at the conference.
“The EU will continue to support all reform efforts that will help meet expectations for Montenegro’s European future”, Oana Kristina concluded.
In the end, Zorka Kordić, the chief negotiator with the EU, addressed the audience and said that the desire of the citizens for Montenegro to be part of the European family is to binds the entire Montenegrin society. She pointed out that EU integration is the most comprehensive and complex reform process of the state in recent history, and added that the process is led by the Government on behalf of the whole society, but it concerns all citizens and therefore requires their information, active participation and support.
She said that in the coming period, activities will be intensified that will contribute to more meaningful information, increase interest and greater participation of citizens in the process itself.