Belarusians still prefer joining the European Union over uniting with Russia, according to a poll by the Vilnius-based Independent Institute for Social, Economic and Political Studies (IISEPS).
The poll, conducted in December 2012, interviewed 1,500 adults across the country and had a sampling error margin of plus or minus three percentage points.
As many as 43.4 percent of those interviewed said that they would like Belarus to join the EU and 37.4 percent said that Belarus should unite with Russia, compared with 44.1 percent and 36.2 percent, respectively, in an IISEPS poll in September 2012.
The percentage of those who would vote for Belarus’ entry into the EU in a national referendum increased 38.9 percent from 35.9 percent in December 2011, and the percentage of those opposing the proposal increased to 37.6 from 36.9 percent.
To a question about a possible referendum on the unification of Belarus and Russia, 28.7 percent of those polled in December 2012 responded that they would vote "yes," compared with 29 percent a year ago. The percentage of those who would vote "no" increased to 47.5 percent from 42.9 percent.
