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On Tuesday the Yuri Levada polling center released the results of their yearly opinion poll, in which Russians were asked which countries they consider to be friends or enemies. According to Komsomol’skaya Pravda, in this year’s poll, Russians warmed up a bit to China and Kazakhstan, but strongly grew cold towards the U.S., Ukraine, Moldova and Poland.
Incidentally, Russians were inclined to consider Ukraine as both a friend and an enemy. That is to say, either it is yet to be determined what the Russian attitude is to their closest neighbor, or, perhaps it is Ukraine’s unpredictable politics that are affecting Russians’ attitudes.
Russia’s Friends for 2006:
Belarus— 47% (46%)
Kazakhstan— 33% (20%)
China— 24% (12%)
Germany— 22% (23%)
India— 15% (16%)
Armenia— 14% (9%)
Bulgaria— 10% (11%)
Ukraine— 10% (17%)
France— 8% (13%)
Italy— 7% (on the list of friends Italy fell, forcing out the US, which 11% of Russians found as friendly)
Russia’s Enemies—2006:
Latvia— 46% (49%)
Georgia— 44% (38%)
Lithuania— 42% (42%)
U.S.— 37% (23%)
Estonia— 28% (32%)
Ukraine— 27% (13%)
Afghanistan— 12% (12%)
Iraq— 9% (10%)
Moldova— 9% (4%)
Poland— 7% (4%)
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