Almost half (44%) of all citizens in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine have a positive image of the European Union, compared to just 13% who perceive it negatively. 61% of citizens believe EU relations with their country to be good, with perceptions of the EU generally consistent with last year’s figures. These are just some of the findings from the 2017 annual surveys in the six Eastern Partner countries, which were recently published by the ‘EU NEIGHBOURS east’ project.
The surveys, conducted via face-to-face interviews in each country by EU NEIGHBOURS east and its opinion polling partner ‘ACT LLC’, assessed general perceptions of the EU and the values with which it is associated, EU relations with partner countries, and awareness of the EU’s financial support and opinions on of its effectiveness. They also looked into the preferred sources of information among the population, how they feel about the current situation in their country and their expectations for the future.
The survey results show that, across the region, trust in the EU remains high (57%). Pro-EU feelings are on the rise in Georgia, where 59% of citizens have a positive image of the EU. This figure is up 6% from last year and higher than in any of the other Eastern Partner countries. 79% of Moldovans are aware of the EU’s financial support to the country, well over the 53% average in the region.
More than 70% of citizens in the region associate the EU with its core values: human rights, democracy and rule of law, civil liberties and economic prosperity, peace, stability and security.
