Eighty-seven percent of Armenians regard Russia as friendly country
23.09.2014,
16:46
Some 87 percent of Armenians regard Russia as a friendly country, according to a recent public opinion survey conducted by the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB).
YEREVAN, September 23. / ARKA /. Some 87 percent of Armenians regard Russia as a friendly country, according to a recent public opinion survey conducted by the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB).
The findings of the survey were announced today by Igor Zadorin, the head of "Eurasian Monitor" agency during a videoconference involving experts from Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia.
The survey called ‘Integration Barometer 2014” involved over 13,000 respondents in 11 CIS countries and Georgia.
It was conducted based on gender, age and geography of residence of the respondents.
According to the survey, 88 percent of respondents in Armenia named former Soviet republics as friendly countries, 16 percent regarded as such European Union member countries and 7 percent named some other countries.
Russia was named as a friendly country by the majority of respondents in seven countries- Armenia, Belarus and Central Asian republics.
Russia was not regarded as a friendly nation by the majority of respondents in three former Soviet republics countries - Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine. Only 7 percent of respondents in Georgia named it as a friendly country, down from 9 percent of the previous survey conducted last year.
The main difference from the previous survey is the dramatic decline in the number of Ukrainian respondents looking at Russia as a friendly country - from 54 percent in 2013 to 24 percent now.
The majority of respondents in Ukraine named Belarus and Georgia as most friendly nations. Last year they named Russia. The change is blamed on the crisis in Russian-Ukrainian relations. The number of Kirghiz citizens regarding Russia as a friendly country dropped from 93 percent in 2013 to 81 percent and in Moldova from 72 percent to 56 percent.
Respondents in Armenia and Azerbaijan named each other as a potential threat. For the majority of Georgians Russia represented a threat. In Ukraine, more than half of population regarded Russia as an unfriendly country, up from 19 percent in the 2013 survey. In Moldovan the figure grew to 23 percent from 12 percent a year ago.
The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) is an international financial organization established by Russia and Kazakhstan in 2006 to help develop market economies and boost mutual trade ties in member states. The bank’s authorized stock is over 1.5bln US dollars. The member-states are Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. -0-
