More than half of Montenegrin citizens believe that someone must bear responsibility for the massacre that occurred on January 1 in Cetinje, according to a survey by CG Pulse conducted by the Center for Civic Education (CCE) and the DAMAR Institute.
CCE Executive Director Daliborka Uljarević explained, at the presentation of the results, that the focus of the research, which was conducted at the end of February and the beginning of March, was citizens' protests and what directly incited them, namely the tragedy in Cetinje.
"More than half of the respondents, 56,7 percent, believe that someone must bear responsibility for the massacre that occurred on January 1 in Cetinje, 17,2 percent responded negatively, while 26,1 percent have no opinion on the matter," Uljarević said.
She stated that citizens recognize responsibility most in state institutions and the Police Administration, and specifically the Minister of Internal Affairs Danilo Šaranović stands out.
Uljarević said that, according to the research, 86 percent of citizens had heard about the protests initiated by the informal student group "Kamo Śutra", and 17,4 percent had participated in them.
"Which means that the protest potential is far greater than what has been seen so far through the number of citizens who have been on the streets. In other words, although not all those who support the protests are motivated to join, awareness and support are present to a significant extent," Uljarević stated.
This, she added, is confirmed by data that 61,1 percent of citizens support the demands of the student group Kamo Śutra to some extent, 27,1 percent are against, while a small number of those who have no opinion – 11,8 percent.
"The greatest support is for the demands to improve attitudes and care for mental health, for the competent institutions to act more promptly and proactively on the issue of weapons, as well as to approach the reform of the system of functioning of police structures," said Uljarević.
According to her, the demands for the return of civic education as a mandatory subject in schools, as well as the one related to the publication of all the facts of the tragedy in Cetinje, have almost equally strong support.
"Support for the demands for the resignation of Šaranović and Deputy Prime Minister Aleksa Bečić is somewhat lower, ranging between 46 and 48 percent," Uljarević added.
She announced that 57,9 percent of citizens support the protests in Serbia, 22,4 percent disagree with the protests, while 19,6 percent have no opinion on the matter.
"Party preferences have a significant influence on this. Those who support the current President of Serbia (Aleksandar Vučić) are the staunchest opponents of student protests," Uljarević stated.
Executive Director of the DAMAR Institute, Vuk Čađenović, said that 35,8 percent of citizens believe that Montenegro is moving in a good or very good direction, 44,9 percent assessed that it is moving in the wrong direction, while almost every fifth citizen is undecided on this issue.
As he said, compared to the survey from February last year, there is a drastic decline in optimism among Montenegrin citizens.
Čađenović added that the results of this year's survey show that 36,6 percent of citizens believe that the situation in the country is positive or stable, 49,3 percent perceive the situation as negative, while 14,3 percent find it difficult to assess.
"If we compare these results with those from last year, it is clear that the share of those who see the situation positively is decreasing from 56,5 to 36,6, while the negative perception has increased. It is also noticeable that uncertainty has increased significantly," said Čađenović.
He said that the strongest feeling among citizens over the last two months was concern, with 29,4 percent of citizens, followed by hope (16,3 percent), indifference (13,3 percent), and only 6,5 percent of citizens stated that satisfaction prevailed among them.
Čađenović said that he is concerned that the highest percentage of young people under the age of 24 are indifferent, 20 percent.
He pointed out that citizens most often cite the fight against organized crime and corruption (15 percent), followed by improved living standards and unemployment as the biggest problems.
When it comes to citizens' trust in institutions, Čađenović pointed out that citizens traditionally trust religious organizations the most, followed by the education system and healthcare.
He announced that 38,2 percent of respondents believe that their income is sufficient to cover monthly expenses, 46,4 say that they do not have enough funds, and 15,4 percent of respondents refused to answer the questions.
"When we compare these results with those from previous years, primarily 2024, we notice a decline in the share of those whose income is sufficient from 44,4 to 38,2 percent, while the number of those who do not have enough income has remained almost at the same level," said Čađenović.
As he added, 3,3 percent of respondents assessed that they were living much better than the previous year, 19,6 percent said that they were living a little better, while 47 percent stated that their standard of living was the same as the previous year.
According to Čađenović, 16,3 percent of respondents said they were living a little worse than in 2024, and 13,8 percent much worse than the previous year.
"Compared to February last year, we have an increase in the percentage of those who stated that they are living worse to a greater or lesser extent than in 2024," Čađenović stated.
He said that almost a third of citizens see all actors equally as responsible for high prices and inflation in Montenegro - the government, retail chains, and global economic trends.
When it comes to individual responsibility, 27,5 percent of citizens responded that retail chains are to blame, 18,8 percent said the government was to blame, 17,6 percent believed that global disruptions were to blame, while five percent had no opinion on the matter.
Uljarević said that the work of Milojko Spajić's government, on a scale of one to five, was rated 2.5, and that the rating was lower than the evaluation of the work for the first 100 days.
She said that 40 percent of citizens stated that the work of the Government was below their expectations, 37 percent that it was in line with expectations, and only 5,5 percent stated that it was above all expectations.
Ulajrević pointed out that citizens are significantly divided regarding the work of the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT).
"A little more than a fifth, 22,9 percent, believe that the chief special prosecutor (Vladimir Novović) can initiate proceedings against politicians suspected of violating the law, which is a lower percentage compared to the previous two years," Ulajrević stated.
As she said, about 25 percent of respondents believe that the Chief Special State Prosecutor depends on politicians, which is the highest since his appointment.
"While the number of those who believe that proceedings are initiated only against certain, politically weak individuals is significantly decreasing - today 29 percent believe this, compared to previous periods when the percentage reached close to 50 percent," Uljarević stated.
She also said that today there are most of those who cannot give a clear position on how the SDT works.
When it comes to processing abuses by the authorities, Ulajrević said that the prevailing belief is that this only applies to those from the period of the Democratic Party of Socialists' government (31,1 percent), while there are three times fewer of those who appreciate that institutions have a strict attitude towards the new government structures (10,4 percent).
The survey was conducted in late February and early March, and the census of population, households and dwellings was used as the sampling frame.
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