Montenegrins firmly support country's EU integration: research

BELGRADE, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Almost 81 percent of the citizens of Montenegro would vote for the accession of the country to the European Union (EU), a research published on Thursday shows.

The research conducted in November and December last year by the "Defacto" agency on request of the EU Delegation in Montenegro deals with the public perception and communication of the process of the EU integration.

The document also reveals that the 63.7 percent of people in Montenegro have a positive attitude towards the EU, as well as that there is a stable trend of support to Montenegro's EU membership.

Presenting the results, the minister of European integration Andrija Pejovic said that the number of people that would vote for accession at a referendum increased by 6 percent comparing to the previous research.

Olivera Komar, author of the research said that the number of people that believe that Montenegro will become a part of the EU, disregarding their personal opinion about it had risen to 70 percent.

"Accession of Montenegro to the EU is the strategic goal of the government and as you can see, people are well informed about that. Whether they like it or not, citizens recognize that the EU accession is the future for Montenegro," she said.

The accession process was launched in 2006, while the agreement was signed in 2007. In 2010 Montenegro was granted a candidate status, while accession negotiation started in 2012. With around 30 chapters open, Montenegro was recently identified by the European Commission as the best prepared among the negotiating states.

50 percent of people see EU as the biggest donor to their country, while the main reasons for the accession are stability, quality of life and the possibility to travel.

Those against the accession cited the crisis inside the EU and the refugee crisis as the main reasons. Enditem