Majority of Montenegrins support country's EU bid - poll

The remaining 6% of the polled said they have no opinion on the topic, according to a survey conducted by local polling agency Damar between May 16-23, published on Tuesday.

According to the survey, 53% of Montenegrins support the country's NATO membership, while 39.4% are against it.

Last week, the Montenegrin government adopted a set of laws on corruption, judiciary and media freedom designed to speed up the country's European Union accession progress. The government, led by the pro-European Europe Now party (PES) of prime minister Milojko Spajic, said the laws are vital for meeting the interim benchmarks in negotiation chapters 23 and 24, as well as for receiving a positive Interim Benchmark Assessment Report (IBAR) from the EU.

The parliament is due to vote on the laws on Thursday.

In April, the EU's European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) said that obtaining the IBAR for the rule of law by June will be a turning point in Montenegro's EU accession process, enabling provisional closing of other chapters. The PES-led government in Podgorica, which took office in October 2023, has focused its work on the Adriatic state becoming the 28th member state of the bloc by 2028.

Damar's survey results also showed that the PES party of prime minister Spajic attracted the support of 23% of the polled, ranking as the most popular party in the country. It was followed by the opposition Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), founded by Montenegro's former leader Milo Djukanovic, with 21%.

Third ranked the New Serb Democracy party, which is a Serbian nationalist right-wing political party in Montenegro, attracting 7.7% support, while the conservative pro-European Democratic Montenegro was supported by 7% of the polled.

President Jakov Milatovic, who left the ruling PES party in February, is the most popular politician in the country, with an average score of 3.26 points, followed by prime minister Spajic with 3.09 points, the poll showed. Third came Milo Djukanovic with a score of 2.77 points. The politicians were evaluated on a score of 1 to 5.