Azerbaijan and EU hold friendly relations :poll

Most Azerbaijanis believe that Azerbaijan and the European Union (EU) have established good relations and the parties have enough common values for effective cooperation, a poll conducted within the European Neighbourhood Barometer on Azerbaijan as of late 2012 said.
The poll was conducted as part of the EU-funded project on examining public opinion in the countries of the European Neighbourhood Policy.

The European Neighbourhood Barometer (examining the public opinion and media monitoring) is part of the EU-funded regional information programme aimed at assessing the level of awareness and perception of the neighbourhood policy, activities and programmes of EU cooperation, the European Neighbourhood Information Centre said on Thursday.

Around 53 per cent of 1000 respondents surveyed in November-December 2012 believe that the EU and Azerbaijan have good relations and only 20 per cent do not think so. This ratio is more favourable than the average index for the East Region of the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI) (45 per cent and 29 per cent, respectively), the poll said.

Only 37 per cent of respondents believe that the EU is an important partner of the country, while 51 per cent believe that the EU and Azerbaijan have enough common values for fruitful cooperation.

The majority of respondents want more EU involvement in democracy (59 per cent) and human rights in the country (51 per cent) and less respondents want EU active involvement in such issues as economic development (48 per cent) and trade (47 per cent), a survey said.

The poll showed that 39 per cent of Azerbaijanis trust the EU. This is above the level of confidence in the United Nations (19 per cent) and NATO (27 per cent). The vast majority of respondents trust the government (92 per cent) and the parliament (68 per cent), as opposed to political parties (22 per cent).

Azerbaijanis participating in the poll are satisfied with their lives (more than in other regional countries) and 65 per cent of respondents like the way they live. The level of satisfaction is higher among young people and more educated respondents.

The respondents are optimistic about their country's development with 48 per cent believing that Azerbaijan is moving in the right direction and only 17 per cent disagree. The economic sentiment indicator is also high as 69 per cent of respondents believe that the economy is at a good level (compared to 25 per cent in the ENPI East Region). Some 60 per cent are satisfied with the results of the democratic process in the country.

Thirty-nine per cent of respondents agreed with the statement that they have enough information about the EU, while 33 per cent agreed that it is clear and understandable.

The publication of statistics data and conclusions of the European Neighbourhood Barometer was timed to the promulgation of a package of reports on the implementation of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) in the countries for 2012.


/Trend/