Starting from June, same-sex marriages can take place in the British consulate in Montenegrin capital, Podgorica, local media reported on Tuesday.

Montenegro is on a list of 24 countries where the British Government allows same sex couples to marry in British Consulates.

Elesewhere in the region, gay Britons can also tie the knot in the UK consulates in Albania, Kosovo and Serbia.

To have a same-sex marriage ceremony at a consulate, at least one party must hold British citizenship .

While gay Brits can marry in Montenegro, Montenegrins do not have the same right. However, last year, Montenegro announced it will push forward with plans to let same-sex couples marry and the government has said such a law could be adopted by the end of 2018.

“I believe that there is a majority in parliament in favour of such a law,” Jovan Kojicic, Human Rights Adviser to the Prime Minister, said.

While human rights groups welcomed the announcement, the more socially conservative pro-Serbian opposition parties and affiliated NGOs denounced the proposal, calling it a “disgrace”.

Montenegro’s pro-EU government has given full backing to the country’s small gay community and to its right to stage public parades.

But public opinion lags behind the government. A recent survey suggested that over 71 per cent of adults in the country still consider homosexuality an illness.

Half of all citizens see homosexuality as a danger to society and say the state should work to suppress it, the same survey said.