Page 11 - GEORptAug18

Overwhelming majority of Georgians favour EU integration, fear Russia
the popular perceptions that corruption and crime have increased over the last two years.”
The police force’s approval rating fell from 88% in May 2013 to 50% today. Public trust has also slipped in several other key institutions over the same time frame, including the Cabinet of Ministers (down 45 points), the parliament (down 47 points), the Office of the Prosecutor (down 34 points), and the courts (down 30 points).
In contrast, approval of local authorities has risen from 27% in March 2016 to 43%. The regions with the two highest approval ratings, Samtskhe-Javakheti (60%) and Ajara (59%), were also among the regions rated as the most transparent and open.
“This improvement in favorability ratings for local authorities indicates that their efforts to engage with citizens are paying off,” said Nix. “It is particularly encouraging to see that these gains are most pronounced in regions with large minority populations who have been marginalized in the past.”
The poll also indicates that a clear majority of Georgians continue to support a broadly pro-Western foreign policy approach. A combined 77% believe that Georgian foreign policy should either be “only pro-European Union and the West” (27%) or “pro-Western but keep up relations with Russia” (50%). While support for dialogue with Russia remains high at 76%, it has dropped six points since March 2017 and 19 points since February 2013.
The survey was conducted by Baltic Surveys/The Gallup Organization on behalf of the Center for Insights in Survey Research . Data was collected between April 10-22, 2018 from a sample of 1,500 permanent residents of Georgia over the age of 18 and eligible to vote. The response rate was 71%, and the margin of error was plus or minus 2.5%.
Some 75% of Georgians would like to see their country join the European Union, a poll by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) has shown. Given the choice between joining the EU or the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), 65% opted for the EU and 21% for the EEU.
Looking at the reasons for wishing to join the EU, 63% of respondents thought it would improve the Georgian economy, while other benefits were seen as security, democratic development, the right to visa-free travel in the EU and job creation. The biggest downside was the potential to create conflict with Russia.
Respondents were also split over the country’s national security, with 59% saying Georgia is a safe country compared to 37% who disagreed; positions have polarised since April 2017, when the split was 52% to 43%.
Russia was considered the biggest threat to Georgia by 63% of respondents, with just 8% picking Turkey and 5% the US.
When asked about the top threat to national security, 53% picked factors related to Russia, with 33% saying “Russian military aggression”, 11% the “occupation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia” — two Georgian breakaway republics backed by Moscow, 7% “Russian propaganda” and 2% “economic dependency on Russia”.
11 GEORGIA Country Report August 2018 www.intellinews.com