Majority of Estonia's Russian-speaking residents against NATO presence
While among Estonian-speaking residents, support for the presence of NATO forces in Estonia is high, the majority of the Russian-speaking population is against it, results of a survey commissioned by the Ministry of Defence show.
Results of the survey show that 69 percent of Estonian residents support the presence of NATO forces in the country, and 23 percent are against it. Two years ago the indicators were 68 percent and 25 percent respectively.
While 89 percent of the Estonian-speaking population support the presence of allied forces and only 6 percent are against it, just 27 percent of the Russian-speaking residents support the presence while 57 percent are against it.
Sociologist Juhan Kivirähk of pollster Turu-uuringute AS that carried out the survey said that this attitude could also be seen looking at attitudes towards Estonia's being a member of NATO.
The survey was carried out in March. 1,202 Estonian residents were interviewed. Since January 2000 and including this latest one, no fewer than 41 surveys have been conducted to sound out attitudes towards the alliance.
Editor: Dario Cavegn
Source: BNS
