Skopje, 27 September 2021 (MIA) – Boris Trajkovski, Kiro Gligorov and Nikola Kljusev are the most popular politicians in the past three decades, according to a survey of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the Institute for Social Research MK91 conducted to mark the country’s 30^th independence anniversary. Of the respondents interviewed for the survey, on a scale from 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest, 42 percent rated former president Boris Trajkovski 5, 33 percent rated former president Kiro Gligorov 5, and 21.1 percent rated former prime minister Nikola Kljusev also 5. A total of 43.1% said the country has been successfully developing in the past 30 years, a difference by 6.9% compared to those who voiced different opinion. According to the respondents, the declaration of independence (15%), the integration process and the integration itself into the EU and NATO (6.3%), and progress and modernization of the country (2%), were set aside as being the most positive milestones in the past three decades. Crime and corruption (12.7%), the economic and living standards (7.1), and political instability (3.1%) were named the most negative developments. “In this context, it is important to note that as many as 70% of the respondents cannot or do not know to select an event as being the most positive in the past 30 years, whereas as many as 56.8% cannot or do not know to select an event as being the most negative in the same time period,” said the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. Of the respondents, 46.3% support the Ohrid Framework Agreement, 38.5% support the Friendship Treaty signed with Bulgaria, and 41.5% support the Prespa Agreement with Greece. A total of 59.8% voiced support for NATO membership and the EU integration process is supported by 38%. Of the Western countries and allies, Germany is favorably viewed by 69.5% followed by the United States (57.4%). China is also positively viewed by 60.2%, 61.6% have favorable views of Russia and 79.5% of Turkey. According to 35.6% of the respondents, the country in the next three decades will prosper better, 22.6% think it will be worse and 16.6% believe the country will move in a direction similar like the current one. “It means that the number of respondents who view positively the country’s development in the next 30 years is increased by 13%, which points out to the fact that there is evident level of optimism amongst them involving the future of North Macedonia. It is due to the strengthened nation-building capacity of the citizens and their sentiment for the declared independence of the country,” said the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. The survey, conducted in August, covered 1,110 respondents.