Russians view Baltic States as a threat

Russians view Baltic States as a threat
Russians view Baltic States as a threat / bne IntelliNews
By bne IntelliNews January 27, 2023

Russia’s residents believe the Baltic states are a threat to Russia, the Levada Centre survey commissioned by the Estonian Foreign Ministry has found, LRT.lt, the website of public broadcaster LRT, reported on January 25.

The respondents were asked to evaluate Russia’s relations with its western neighbours on a scale from 1 to 16, with 1 being the most positive.

According to the Estonian public broadcaster ERR News, Russia’s residents were most positive about their country’s relations with Belarus (score 1-2 on average).

Meanwhile, Estonia scored 11 points, with Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland receiving a score of one or two points more, meaning a more negative attitude towards these countries.

Russia’s relations with Ukraine received the worst-possible score of 16, LRT.lt said.

The respondents were also asked to evaluate the threat that they think Russia’s neighbours pose to their country on a scale from 1 to 16, with 1 being the greatest threat.

All Baltic states received a threat score between 4-8. The threat posed by Ukraine received the worst score of 1, and that posed by Poland scored 3.

The survey has revealed that Russians are critical of the Baltics for joining Nato. Respondents also suggested that the Baltics hate Russia, obstruct the use of the Russian language, are rewriting World War Two history, and removing Soviet monuments.

Meanwhile, Russians’ support for the war in Ukraine has decreased slightly, the Levada Centre survey has found.

In March 2022, 81% of respondents supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The support fell to 75% in June and 71% in December, LRT.lt said.

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