Conducted Researches

Eurasian monitor: Wave 6

Research was conducted from 1 November to 30 December 2006

The research was conducted from the 1st of November till the 30th of December 2006. 

The international research agency “Eurasian monitor” presents preliminary results of the sixth wave of public polls of 5 post-soviet countries – Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus, Armenia conducted in November-December 2006.

Special topic of the sixth wave – 15 years of the USSR’s collapse in perception of the citizens of the former Union.

After 15 years of signing the Belovezhskiy agreement about the actual dissolution of the Soviet Union the most citizens of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus express a regret at the USSR dissolution. This attitude is mostly inhere for Russians (68% of those expressed a regret), least inhere for citizens of Belarus Republi (52%); among Ukrainians a share of those regretting the Union’s “death” accounted to 59% of the population.

It is interesting that in all three countries an opinion is still widely and almost on the same scale spread that the USSR dissolution could have been avoided: almost a half of citizens (44-47%) in each country-participant believe in it.

From 5 countries where the research was conducted Armenia was an exception. The majority of respondents (60%) in Armenia are inclined to consider the Union’s dissolution inevitable.

However in spite of most citizens regretting the Soviet Union dissolution the quantity of those who is ready today to vote for a unification of former union republics into a new union during a hypothetical referendum are less than those who “regret”. At that if in Russia almost a half of population (51%) voted for a new union, in Ukraine a little bit less (45%), in Belarus unification spirit is significantly weaker, here only a third of population (36%) would support unification. In Armenia 49% would vote for unification, 41% would vote against it (more than in other countries).

Moreover today citizens of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus in their majority do not believe in possibility of reconstruction of a common union of the former USSR’s republics. Even among Russians most inclined to unification a share of those who do not believe in possibility of the Union accounts to 68%, among Ukrainians 71%, among Belarusian – two thirds of the population (76%).

If talking about current integration feelings of citizens of the former USSR, almost a half of citizens in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan are basically inclined to unification. Differences arise in question about a form of such a union. Russians express twice as much readiness as citizens of other three countries to reconstruct a unitary state type USSR. Ukrainians and Belarusian more often prefer a united Union of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

The polls proved that today differences in integration feelings are more related to age differences than to a respondent’s country of living. The youth of each country-participant regret less the USSR’s dissolution than the older generation, more rare strive for living in a new union state and on the contrary are more inclined to live in united Europe. It means that if the current tendency keeps with the change of generations integration feelings are likely to reduce and an integration vector can redirect to the West ( for Russia, Belarus and Ukraine) or to the East for the Kazakhstan.