Just 49% of Latvians view NATO as providing protection

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Just 49% of Latvian residents see the NATO alliance, of which Latvia has been a member since 2004, as providing guaranteed protection, whilst 16% view it as a threat. A further 29% see it as neither, according to an international Gallup opinion poll, reported Rus.lsm.lv.

Latvia's approval rating for NATO is on a par with the figures for Hungary and the Czech Republic.

The situation is slightly different in the other Baltic states.

In Lithuania, 57% see NATO as providing protection, 13% as a threat, and 25% as neither.

Meanwhile 52% of Estonians see NATO as providing protection, 17% as a threat and 26% as neither.

Kosovo is the most optimistic country towards NATO with 90% seeing it as protection, 3% as a threat and 6% as neither. 

At the bottom of the chart is Serbia where just 6% trust NATO, 64% view it as a threat and 19% are undecided.

The results are based on telephone interviews conducted throughout 2016 with a random sample of approximately 1,000 adults, aged 15 and older, living in each country in central and eastern Europe.

Hostility to NATO in Russia, aided by media misinformation about is intentions, is clearly rife, sys Gallup: "Sixty-seven percent of Russians in 2016 view NATO as a threat, which is up 29 percentage points since 2012, and is the highest number that Gallup has recorded since it started tracking Russians' views on NATO in 2008."

You can view the full results of the survey HERE.

 

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