BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS
DATE:
30/08/2008
Russia Friend, U.S. Foe for Belarusians
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - The vast majority of people in Belarus count on Russia as their country's greatest friend, according to a poll by Bashkirova & Partners. 82.1 per cent of respondents regard Russia as a friend or ally, followed by Ukraine with 35.3 per cent, and China with 24.3 per cent.
Conversely, 54.4 per cent of respondents see the United States as unfriendly or hostile towards Belarus, followed by Poland, Latvia and Britain.
Belarus seceded from the Soviet Union in 1991. In 1994, independent candidate Aleksandr Lukashenko won the presidential election, boosted by his popularity after acting as chairman of an anti-corruption parliamentary committee. Lukashenko remains the country's president to this day.
In March 2006, Lukashenko won the presidential election with 82.6 per cent of the vote. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said the ballot "did not meet the required international standards for free and fair elections" and was "severely flawed due to arbitrary use of state power and restrictions to basic rights."
In late 1999, Lukashenko and then Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a bilateral treaty, where the two nations agreed to eventually merge their tax systems and currencies. The agreement affectively created the Union of Russia and Belarus.
On Aug. 21, Russia's ambassador to Belarus Aleksandr Surikov confirmed that Lukashenko and new Russian president Dmitry Medvedev recently discussed to possibility of implementing the common currency sooner than planned, saying, "I read attentively about the meeting between Medvedev and Lukashenko, it is written clearly-taking into consideration the current events and difficult situation in economy and policy, we should look more seriously at our mutual relations, which should become closer."
Polling Data
Which of the following foreign nations would you regard as Belarus' friends or allies? (Several answers allowed)
Russia
82.1%
Ukraine
35.3%
China
24.3%
Poland
11.1%
Armenia
5.4%
Moldova
5.1%
Others
31.8%
None
2.3%
Hard to say
9.0%
Which of the following foreign nations do you consider unfriendly or even hostile to Belarus? (Several answers allowed)
United States
54.4%
Poland
7.3%
Latvia
5.7%
Britain
5.3%
Others
27.8%
None
15.7%
Hard to say
22.5%
Source: Bashkirova & Partners
Methodology: Interviews with 1,000 Belarusian adults, conducted from Jul. 12 to Jul. 30, 2008. No margin of error was provided.
Source:
http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/view/russia_friend_us_foe_for_belarusians/
Archive
Subscribe Daily Newsletter:
Belarus News and Analysis Donate:
