SO ANYONE WHO ISN’T WITH US IS AGAINST US?

Mariam Magomedova

Novye Izvestia
June 18, 2008

What the Papers Say
Russian citizens identify our country’s allies and "enemies"

Opinion poll results: which countries are Russia’s friends?; A recent
opinion poll indicates that most Russian citizens still see America
as Russia’s chief "enemy" and Belarus as its leading ally. The experts
we approached for comments say that the likes and dislikes of Russian
citizens are fairly stable, remaining unchanged over many years.

An opinion poll done by the Bashkirova and Partners agency indicates
that most Russian citizens still see America as Russia’s chief "enemy"
and Belarus as its leading ally. The experts we approached for comments
say that the likes and dislikes of Russian citizens are fairly stable,
remaining unchanged over many years.

This is the second year in a row that most respondents have named
the United States as Russia’s chief "enemy." The idea that America is
hostile to Russia is accepted by 33.3% of respondents – a change of
only 0.5% since last year. Second on the list of unfriendly nations
is Georgia, named by 31% of respondents. Estonia, which ranked second
in the 2007 poll, has slipped to fifth (13.3% of respondents. Ukraine
and Latvia scored 18% each. Among European countries, those identified
as unfriendly to Russia were Britain (6.6%), Germany (3.8%), Italy
(1.1%), and France (0.7%). Three Islamic states – Afghanistan, Iran,
and Iraq – all scored 6%. Only 4.5% of respondents said that no
countries are hostile to Russia.

The pollsters say that attitudes to other countries are "clearly
linked to media coverage of international issues." As the Bashkirova
and Partners report notes, Georgia’s position in the ranking is a
consequence of the crisis in Russian-Georgian relations associated
with the Abkhazia situation; attitudes to Estonia have become less
negative since the Bronze Soldier relocation controversy died down.

Alexei Makarkin, VP of the Political Techniques Center, told us that
"the United States is regarded as our historical rival," but there
are also many other irritants involved – such as NATO expansion and
missile defense. "Similarly, all the other irritants are countries
with which we experience a deterioration in relations from time to
time. For example, due to NATO expansion, Russian citizens experience
periodic upswings of dislike for Georgia and Ukraine. Relations with
the Baltic states are soured by differing perspectives on Soviet
history in general and Second World War history in particular."

The list of Russia’s "friends" remains almost unchanged since last
year’s poll. Belarus is at the top of the list – named by 35.3% of
respondents. China is second with 18%. Germany, which was second last
year, is now down to 16.1%. Other allies identified by respondents
are Armenia (12.7%), France (9.4%), Italy (9.1%). Lithuania scored
less than one percent in the ranking of Russia’s friends. Georgia
and the United States scored 2.8% and 4.4% respectively.