BELTA IA (Belarus) EDB polls: EEU member countries' citizens are positive about integration

«The fourth wave of research into integration preferences in the CIS countries suggests that the «integration core» of the EEU continues to consolidate. In Kazakhstan, Russia and the Kyrgyz Republic 78-86% of the population approve of integration. At the same time, in Belarus and Armenia the population's interest in Eurasian integration reduced in the recent year,» experts state in the report. 

The level of support for the countries' participation in the EEU in Russia and Kazakhstan is 78% and 80%, respectively. At the same time, the citizens of Armenia and Belarus demonstrated a lower level of support for their countries' participation in the union (56% and 60% respectively, or 8% down on 2014). In Armenia, the number of those who feel indifferent or negative about the country's participation in the EEU is also growing. During the poll of 2015, the respondents from Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia were asked about their attitudes towards the creation of some common institutes within the EEU such as the single currency, common laws, a common army, and a common governance body. «The research has shown that there is no single position on these issues among the population of all the four EEU member countries. 

An exception is Armenia where 55% of people are for the single currency. Another exception is the attitude towards establishing a common army in Belarus and Russia where most people are against this possibility (57% and 53% respectively),» the media service reports. The research has been conducted by the EDB Centre for Integration Studies since 2012 in partnership with Eurasian Monitor, an international research agency. In 2015, over 11,000 people from nine CIS countries - Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, and Ukraine - took part in the poll. EDB is an international financial institution founded by Russia and Kazakhstan in January 2006 with the mission to facilitate the development of market economies, sustainable economic growth and the expansion of mutual trade and other economic ties in its member states. The member states of the Bank are Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Russia and Tajikistan.