NDI polls reveal most Georgians approve Gov’t aspiration to NATO, EU

The public poll results released the by National Democratic Institute (NDI) and CRRC Georgia today report that the biggest majority of the surveyed people support the government’s goal to join NATO and the EU.

77 percent of those interviewed say Georgia should become a member of the EU, only 16 percent was against.

When it comes to NATO, the Alliance membership is acceptable for 66 percent, while 23 percent stand against the goal.

• Top national issues of concern in the survey remain jobs, poverty, territorial integrity, rising prices/inflation, and healthcare, while leading local issues are roads, environment, water, gas, and traffic.
• In Tbilisi, the leading concern is pollution.

The poll also questioned people about the ongoing constitutional and self-government reforms.

The survey reads that only 32 percent of Georgians reported that they were aware of the process to change the constitution, and of those few who were aware, the majority (59 percent) reports they do not have enough information about the changes.

Half of Georgians (52 percent) were aware of the new legislation revoking the status of seven self-governing cities and merging them with the municipalities, while 44 percent were unaware.

The majority of citizens (59 percent) disapproved of the merging of these cities and having them governed by one body, and only 16 percent approved.

The results reflected data collected from June 18 to July 9, through face-to-face interviews with a nationwide representative sample of Georgia’s adult population, excluding occupied territories, that included 2,261 completed interviews.

The average margin of error is +/- 2,2 percent, NDI says.