Political Public Opinion in Montenegro, September 2025
In Montenegro, a general decline in public trust toward state institutions has been recorded. More than half of citizens cite political patronage in employment as their main concern, nearly 40 percent perceive the Government as unstable, while a majority express dissatisfaction with their standard of living.
These findings were presented at a press conference unveiling the results of the research “Political Public Opinion in Montenegro, 2025.”
Nevenka Vuksanović, Director of CEDEM, stated that the survey was conducted on a representative sample of approximately 1,006 respondents, during the period from September 25 to October 6, 2025.
“When asked whether Montenegro is moving in the right or wrong direction, 36 percent of citizens believe the country is on the right path, while a larger share—38 percent—think it is moving in the wrong direction. Trends indicate that in May 2023, 38.1 percent of citizens said the country was on the right track, while the previous year that figure stood at 34.6 percent,” Vuksanović noted.
She pointed out that over 40 percent of citizens expressed dissatisfaction with the Government’s performance, while fewer than 40 percent considered its work satisfactory.
“The results show that citizens generally do not rate politicians highly—none of the surveyed political figures received an average score above 3 on a scale of 1 to 5. The highest ratings were given to: Milojko Spajić (2.56), Jakov Milatović (2.49), Milan Knežević (2.39), Milo Đukanović (2.37), Danijel Živković (2.26), Andrija Mandić (2.18), Aleksa Bečić (2.13), and Dritan Abazović (2.03),” said Vuksanović.
She added that these politicians also received a significant number of low ratings when the share of the highest scores was analyzed.
Vuksanović explained that CEDEM compared these results with the previous year’s measurements to identify changes in perception.
“We can see comparative data, along with percentage differences showing who’s gained or lost support. Milo Đukanović’s score rose by about 2.2%, Milan Knežević’s fell by 3.6%, Danijel Živković’s by 1.2%, Milojko Spajić’s by 7.1%, Jakov Milatović’s by 9%, Aleksa Bečić’s by 2%, and Dritan Abazović’s by 1.0%,” she said.
Presenting data on trust in institutions, Vuksanović noted that citizens express the highest confidence in the education and healthcare systems, while police, the judiciary, and the prosecution service are seeing a decline in trust.
“The Serbian Orthodox Church has recorded a slight drop, while the Montenegrin Army has seen an increase in trust. Overall, the trends indicate a general decline in confidence toward state institutions, with education and healthcare remaining stable or slightly improving,” Vuksanović stated.
According to her, 36 percent of citizens believe that increases in salaries and pensions have had a positive effect on living standards, while 30 percent think that rising prices have offset these gains.
“About 25 percent of citizens believe their standard of living has worsened, while 8 percent gave no answer,” she added.
Citizens expressed the highest confidence in the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education, Science, and Innovation, while other ministries received lower ratings.
In a hypothetical parliamentary election, citizens would vote as follows:
- DPS – 25.8%
- “For the Future of Montenegro” – 23.5%
- PES – 20.3%
- Democrats – 8.2%
- Bosniak Party – 5%
- Socialist People’s Party (ES) – 5%
- URA – 3.6%
“The trends indicate a decline in support for PES (from 29% in 2023 to around 20% this year) and for the Democrats, while URA shows a modest increase compared to 2023,” said Vuksanović.
She emphasized that citizens identify four main domestic political priorities:
- Improving the standard of living and creating new jobs (75.2%)
- Strengthening independent institutions (22.2%)
- Combating crime and corruption (13.3%)
- Addressing interethnic relations (14.6%)
“Almost half of citizens are primarily focused on living standards, while democracy ranks third and interethnic relations fourth,” said Vuksanović.
She noted that during interviews, citizens most frequently called for higher salaries and pensions, while expressing concern about economic instability and rising prices, describing them as the main problems of everyday life.
Among other priorities, citizens cited Montenegro’s EU integration path, the fight against corruption and crime, job creation, improvement of interethnic relations, greater efficiency in the judiciary and prosecution, attracting foreign investment, and curbing political patronage in employment.
“The standard of living remains the top concern, with inflation and price growth strongly correlated with citizens’ demand for higher wages and pensions,” Vuksanović added.
While economic issues have traditionally dominated public discourse, the data now show that 50.5 percent of citizens identify political patronage in employment as the leading societal issue—emerging alongside economic instability and political revenge against dissenters as key public concerns.
Asked to compare the current situation with the period when DPS was in power,
- 24.1% said it is “more or less the same,”
- 22.1% said it is “slightly better,” and
- 18.9% said it is “significantly better” than under the DPS government.
The perception of Prime Minister Milojko Spajić’s government stability is divided.
“Only 29% consider the Government stable, 26.3% view it as unstable, 16.7% describe it as very unstable, and only 8% as very stable. About 20% could not provide an assessment. Overall, nearly 40% perceive the Government as unstable, while about 30% express positive views of its stability,” she said.
Regarding a potential government reshuffle,
- 37% of citizens have no opinion,
- 35.9% support it, and
- 27.2% oppose it.
“Citizens generally prefer stability over changes that do not include elections,” Vuksanović explained, adding that most respondents do not wish for early elections.
On the question of snap parliamentary elections, 35% believe they are necessary, 38% disagree, and 6% are undecided.
“Compared to last year, the data show a stable trend of disinterest and a lack of firmly formed opinions among citizens,” she noted.
The research also examined perceptions of external influence on Montenegrin politics.
“Nearly 50% of citizens believe that the Serbian Orthodox Church exerts influence over political affairs, while 21.6% have no opinion. Regarding Serbia, 30% believe that its government has a strong influence, 28.7% think it does not, and 20.7% consider its influence exaggerated,” said Vuksanović.
When it comes to historical interpretations, a majority (37.9%) recognize Partisans as anti-fascist fighters, while 30.6% expressed no opinion.
Other responses included: both sides were anti-fascists (14%), neither (8.8%), or Chetniks (8.7%).
Citizens were also asked about the erection of a monument to Pavle Đurišić:
- nearly 40% oppose it,
- 25.3% consider it unimportant,
- 13.5% support it, and
- almost 22% have no opinion.
“More than half did not assess the state’s response; 27.3% opposed state involvement, while 20.4% supported it,” she said.
Milena Ranitović, CEDEM’s project coordinator, presented data showing that 71.3% of citizens support Montenegro’s EU membership, 17.5% oppose it, and 11.3% are undecided.
“Among those with a defined stance, as many as 80.3% would vote in favor of EU membership if a referendum were held,” Ranitović said.
She added that March 2024 recorded the highest level of EU support, but a decline of about 7% has since been observed.
“The causes of this decline are still under analysis, including changes in political approaches and global geopolitical dynamics,” she explained.
Regarding NATO membership, Ranitović reported that support currently stands at 42%, down from 49.5% the previous year.
The share of those opposing membership has risen from 30.7%, reflecting increasing polarization between strong supporters and opponents of NATO membership.
When discussing foreign policy orientation, most respondents still believe Montenegro should rely primarily on the European Union, followed by Serbia, the United States, Russia, and China.
“Overall support for reliance on the EU stands at about 40%, down by more than 10 percentage points compared to previous surveys. The significance of all other international actors has also declined,” Ranitović stated.
The study found that 47.3% of respondents continue to support a Western orientation, 30.6% favor a mixed orientation(including cooperation with Serbia and neighboring countries), 18.8% prefer an independent course, and 3.3% remain undecided.
“Compared to March 2024, Western orientation has fallen from 50.3%, while non-Western attitudes have grown by roughly 5%,” Ranitović said.
She noted a 3% increase in citizens who believe Russia committed aggression against Ukraine, and a decrease in those without a defined opinion.
“Some respondents view the war as partially a defense by Russia against NATO expansion, reflecting the complexity of Montenegrins’ perceptions of global affairs. When asked who bears the greatest responsibility for the conflict, 27.6% blamed Russia, 24.2% the U.S. and NATO, 19.7% said all sides share the blame, 11.5% blamed Ukraine and President Zelensky, while 17% had no opinion,” Ranitović concluded.
She emphasized that these findings suggest that citizens of Montenegro are primarily focused on domestic issues, though there remains a notable degree of apoliticism and limited interest in international developments.
