Georgians View Russia as Top Enemy, Survey Shows
On July 20, during the survey "Caucasus Barometer - 2024," most Georgian citizens identified Russia as the country's main enemy. According to the research, 69% of respondents named Russia Georgia's primary adversary. In similar surveys, 66% held this view in 2021, 49% in 2019, 40% in 2017, and 35% in 2012.
The number of people believing that Georgia has no enemies has remained unchanged at 4% over the past 12 years. Meanwhile, 4% of respondents viewed the US as an enemy, and 2% saw Turkey in the same light. In the 2012 survey, both the US and Turkey were considered enemies by 3% of respondents each.
Georgian citizens identified the following countries as Georgia's friends: the US (24%), Azerbaijan (8%), Ukraine (7%), Turkey (4%), Germany (4%), Armenia (2%), Russia (2%), France (2%), Israel (1%), China (1%), and others (3%).
Support for Georgia's accession to the EU has increased, with 48% of respondents "fully supporting" it, 22% "rather supporting" it, 5% "not supporting at all," 5% "rather not supporting" it, 14% "partly supporting and partly not supporting" it, and 5% refusing to answer. In 2021, 63% supported Georgia's EU membership to some extent, compared to the current 70%. The proportion of opponents has also risen by 3% over the three years.
Regarding trust in the EU, the survey revealed that 21% fully trusted the EU, 36% "rather trusted" it, 10% expressed complete distrust, 8% "rather distrusted" it, and 18% were neutral.
Conducted by the Caucasus Research Resource Center (CRRC) since 2004, the "Caucasus Barometer" surveys socio-economic problems and political attitudes in Armenia and Georgia. The 2024 survey took place from April 16 to May 13 across all regions of Georgia, with 1,509 people interviewed in Georgian, Armenian, and Azerbaijani languages through personal interviews.