Which Countries Are Our Friends and Which Are Not: Public Survey Results Released

Various sociological surveys conducted over the years have shown that the Armenian public's perception of relations with Russia has consistently and unwaveringly been rated at a very high level for decades. This was stated by Gevorg Poghosyan, academic director of the Institute of Philosophy, Sociology, and Law of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, during a conference titled 'The Image of Strategic Ally Russia in Contemporary Armenian Society.'

“In a national survey conducted in Armenia in 2006, a striking majority of about 95 percent of respondents rated relations with Russia as good. For comparison, 86 percent rated relations with Iran positively, 85 percent with the European Union, 67 percent with the United States, and 43 percent with Georgia. Between 90 and 97 percent of respondents rated relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey as bad,” said Poghosyan, adding that similar results were obtained in studies conducted in 2007 and 2008.

According to him, ten years later, from 2018 to 2020, another national survey showed that a vast majority of 93 percent of respondents rated their relations with Russia positively, while relations with Iran, China, and Georgia received similar positive ratings from 93 to 94 percent. The European Union was rated positively by 91 percent, and the United States by 88 percent. Poor relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey were assessed negatively by 98 to 99 percent of respondents.

According to the sociologist, 65.6 percent of the participants in the survey expressed support for Armenia's membership in the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). Additionally, 51.6 percent preferred building relations with the EEU for Armenia, while 19.5 percent favored relations with the European Union. At the same time, 59 percent of respondents reported having relatives abroad, with 70 percent receiving regular financial support from Russia.

Sociological studies have also shown that, over the past 30 years of independence, the main flow of labor migrants from Armenia (about 80 percent) has been towards Russia.