Most people in Azerbaijan feel the European Union has good relations with their country and have sufficient common values to cooperate. This is one of the key findings of the recently released Autumn 2012 EU Neighbourhood Barometer for Azerbaijan, conducted in the framework of an EU-funded opinion polling project for the Neighbourhood.
The survey, based on 1,000 interviews conducted in November-December 2012, finds that 53% of respondents felt the EU had good relations with Azerbaijan, while just 20% felt they were bad. This ratio is more favourable than the average for the ENPI East region (45% and 29% respectively).
Of those asked, just 37% felt the EU was an important partner, but 51% believed the EU and Azerbaijan share sufficient common values to be able to cooperate.
Most of those asked wanted a greater EU role in democracy (59%) and human rights (51%), with smaller percentages looking for a greater role in economic development (48%), and trade (47%).
The survey found that 39% of Azerbaijanis trusted the EU – above the level of trust in the UN (19%) and NATO (27%). Those asked overwhelmingly trusted their government (92%) and Parliament (68%), but were less trusting of political parties (22%).
Azerbaijanis questioned in the poll were optimistic about their lives – much more so than other countries in the region – with 65% satisfied with the life they lead, and degree of satisfaction rising the younger and more educated respondents were.
Respondents were also upbeat regarding the direction in which the country was going, with 48% saying Azerbaijan was going in the right direction, compared to just 17% who disagreed. Economic sentiment was also positive, with 69% saying the situation was good (compared to just 25% in the broader ENPI East region), and 52% expecting it to get better. Sixty per cent were satisfied with the way democracy worked in their country.
Thirty-nine per cent of those asked agreed enough information was available about the EU, while 33% agreed it was easy to understand (against 30% who disagreed).
Factsheets summarising the findings of the EU Neighbourhood Barometers were published to coincide with the recent release of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) package of 2012 progress reports of countries covered by the ENP.
The EU Neighbourhood Barometer (opinion polling and media monitoring) is part of the EU-funded Regional Communication Programme, and aims at assessing knowledge and perception of the EU Neighbourhood Policy and its cooperation activities and programmes.
An infographic produced for the EU Neighbourhood Info Centre highlights some of the key findings across the ENPI East region. (EU Neighbourhood Info)
Read more
EU Neighbourhood Barometer – Autumn 2012 Azerbaijan factsheet
EU Neighbourhood Barometer – presentation of Autumn 2012 findings
EU Neighbourhood Info Centre infographic highlighting ENPI East findings – download in high resolution
EU Neighbourhood Barometer website
EU Neighbourhood Info Centre webpage – Azerbaijan
Regional Communication Programme – fiche