January 19 (SeeNews) - As many as 80.9% of Montenegrin voters in a referendum on whether the country should join the EU would support its accession to the bloc, the Delegation of the European Union to Montenegro said, quoting the results of a recent public opinion poll.
A recent public opinion poll shows that 76.5% of Montenegro's citizens would vote in a referendum on membership in the EU, the Delegation of the European Union to Montenegro said in a statement on Thursday. For the time being, however, there are no plans to hold a referendum on the issue.
The European Commission started accession negotiations with Montenegro in June 2012.
The survey also showed that citizens' support for Montenegro's accession to the European Union has been at a consistently high level. At the end of 2017, 62% of respondents supported the country's bid to join the EU, the Delegation said.
The number of citizens who have a positive attitude towards the EU continues to grow, and now stands at 63.7%, which is the highest share since 2013, it added.
"Today, when many say that the EU is in a crisis and that there is no perspective, the survey shows that the citizens of Montenegro really have a clear perspective and support for what we are doing. The survey also shows that one-third of citizens understand that the country is moving towards the EU as fast as circumstances permit," foreign minister Aleksandar Andrija Pejovic said in the statement.
Montenegro has started talks on 30 out of the 35 chapters of EU body of law and has provisionally closed negotiations on three, namely Chapter 30 - External Relations, Chapter 25 - Science & Research and Chapter 26 - Education & Culture. Chapter 34 -Institutions and Chapter 35 - Other Issues were provisionally closed, as Montenegro has nothing to adopt in the sectors.