Brussels, (MINA) – The European integration of the Western Balkans is supported by 64 percent of the citizens of this region, according to the new Balkan Barometer presented on Thursday in Brussels by the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC).

RCC Secretary General Amer Kapetanovic said that support for EU integration has increased by ten percents compared to last year.

“This is the highest level ever recorded”, Kapetanovic said at the presentation of the report, recalling that the Balkan Barometer has been published for more than a decade.

According to the report, support for EU integration is highest in Albania at 86 percent, and lowest in Serbia at 42 percent.

In Montenegro, EU membership is supported by 59 percent of citizens, the same level as in Bosnia and Herzegovina, while in Kosovo that percentage is 78 percent, and in North Macedonia 62 percent.

26 percent of the citizens of the region hope their countries will join the EU by 2030, while 25 percent of them expect it to happen by 2035.

The last year’s Barometer indicates that 39 percent of Montenegrin citizens believe that joining the EU will bring them benefits, and the same share of them believe that the country will join the EU by 2030.

Kapetanovic said that the findings offer reason for optimism, but also for concern.

He pointed out that the citizens see price growth (inflation), the economic situation, corruption, political instability, unemployment and “brain drain” as the biggest problems.

Kapetanovic added that there are three institutions that are most trusted in the region, namely religious institutions, the army and the EU.

“Citizens do not trust political parties, parliaments and courts, and that should be a reason for concern”, he added.