CRRC: Georgian Citizens Remain Strongly Pro-Western  

A new survey by the Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC) on the perception of foreign threats in Georgia found that Georgian citizens remain strongly pro-Western and the majority do not believe that concessions will help avoid war with Russia.

The Caucasus Research Resource Centers conducted the survey with the financial support of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) from August 29 to September 5, 2022 in Georgian, Armenian, Azerbaijani and Russian languages. 1,523 adult respondents were interviewed.

NATO, EU

According to the survey, 54% of the respondents believe that Georgia will get more benefits from joining the European Union and NATO; 16% think that the country will benefit from rejecting them; 16% do not agree with both opinions, while 14% did not know or refused to answer. 73% of respondents believe that EU membership will help Georgia’s economic development, and 48% think that NATO membership will be a precondition for restoring territorial integrity.

In addition, 63% of respondents do not believe that EU membership is a threat to national identity. 47% of respondents believe that Georgia should have close political cooperation with Western countries and organizations; 12% – with Russia and 15% – with other countries.

Threats coming from Russia

According to the poll, 71% of respondents think that NATO membership will increase Russia’s aggression against Georgia. 36% of respondents believe that Georgia will avoid war with Russia by making concessions. 22% think that it will not help to avoid war with Russia and 23% believe that the country is not threatened by war with Russia.  

Nevertheless, 60% of respondents say that Georgia should not reject its Western orientation in order to avoid war with Russia. Only 20% said that the country should reject its Western orientation in order to avoid war with Russia. 20% did not know or refused to answer.

War in Ukraine

46% of respondents believe that Ukraine could not have avoided the war by making concessions to Russia. A large number of respondents said that it should not have made/should not make concessions. 36% believe that the war in Ukraine will end with the liberation of Ukrainian territories. 30% say that the war will end with partial occupation of Ukraine.

26% of respondents said that the actions of foreign leaders regarding the war in Ukraine were very positive; 37% – mostly positive; 14% – mostly negative; 9% – very negative. As for the actions of Georgian leaders, only 16% said that these actions were very positive; 39% – mostly positive; 15% – mostly negative; 13% – very negative.  

Also Read:

02/02/2023 – Public Attitudes in NDI Survey 

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)