Public opinion poll on European and Eurasian integration in Armenia
On 19 September, a public opinion poll on Armenia’s European and Eurasian integration conducted by the Advanced Public Research (APR) Group and commissioned by the Vanadzor office of the Helsinki Civil Assembly released its results, reported arka.am. The survey had 1200 respondents.
According to survey results, 30% of respondents believed that their country should integrate with the European Union (EU), 20% - with the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), 30% believe that it should integrate both with the EU and the EEU, and 6% believe that Armenia should not integrate with any international organization. The number of Armenian citizens who support the country's integration with the EAEU has been steadily declining since it joined the bloc of several former Soviet republics four years ago, while the number of those who support the country's closer integration with the EU stabilized after a sharp jump in 2016.
The report also said that the attitude towards the Eurasian Economic Union is completely interconnected with the attitude of Armenian citizens towards Russia. The largest number of EU supporters are in Aragatsotn region (44%), Vayots Dzor (38%) and Yerevan (41%). The number of EAEU supporters are the largest in Lori region (36%) and Ararat (33%). The largest number of those who support both integrations are in Syunik (69%), Gegharkunik (60%), and Shirak (56%) regions.
In terms of gender, men are more likely to preserve Armenia's membership in the Eurasian Economic Union than women. While among men the level of support for the EU and the EEU is approximately the same, among women there are almost twice as many EU supporters.
The report also noted that in 2016 the number of supporters for EU membership exceeded the number of EAEU membership supporters in the country. The drop was likely caused by large-scale sales of Russian weapons to Azerbaijan after the April war in 2016, according to the report.
The APR group is an NGO unifying Armenian political scientists, sociologists, psychologists and lawyers to conduct policy relevant research in the country. The Helsinki Citizens' Assembly Vanadzor is a non-political, non-religious, non-profit NGO, which unites individuals who value the supreme principles of democracy, tolerance, pluralism and human rights.