Georgians see EU, US as “most important” political, economic partners, Russia as “major threat” - poll

A new survey released by the International Republican Institute on Tuesday showed a majority of respondents in Georgia naming the European Union and the United States as the country’s “most important political partners” while highlighting Russia as a “major threat”.

In the poll, 63 percent of those surveyed named the EU as the country’s biggest political partner, followed by the US, Ukraine, Turkey and Azerbaijan.

Sixty percent also selected the EU as the major economic partner of Georgia, while 43 percent named the US.

In the same survey, 87 percent named Russia as a “major political threat” to the country and 76 percent said it also posed an economic threat. 

Image by IRI. 

When asked about the desirability of their country joining the EU, 89 percent indicated they “fully supported” or “somewhat supported” the objective, with the figure representing an increase of four percentage points from the most recent poll and matching an all-time high.

It is explicitly clear that Georgians want to join the European Union and continue their integration with Western, democratic institutions”, said Steve Nix, the Senior Director for Eurasia at IRI. “It’s now incumbent upon leaders in the Government to deliver what the people want”, he added.

Image by IRI. 

The survey said 79 percent of Georgians opposed introduction of visa-free travel for Russian nationals in Georgia, as well as registration of businesses and purchase of property by Russian citizens in the country. 

The survey was conducted on behalf of IRI’s Center for Insights in Survey Research by Dr. Rasa Alisauskiene, of the public and market research company Baltic Surveys/The Gallup Organisation, between March 4-23. 

The fieldwork was conducted by the Institute of Polling and Marketing, which collected data through face-to-face interviews with 1,500 respondents aged above 18.