One third or 36 percent of the Latvian population feel safe in Latvia because the country is protected by NATO membership, according to an opinion poll conducted by Rait Custom Research Baltic and commissioned by the State Chancellery.
In March this year, the survey showed similar results, i.e. 35 percent of the respondents felt secure.
The survey also showed that a third of the population, or 32 percent, agreed that they felt safe because there was no direct military threat to Latvia. The same proportion said so in March.
In turn, 28 percent of the population indicated in the survey that they feel safe because Latvia invests in defense and security, a statistically significant increase compared to March, when 22 percent of respondents expressed this opinion, the pollsters said.
In addition, 19 percent of people believe Russian President Vladimir Putin that Russia has no plans to invade Latvia, according to the poll.
However, 19 percent of respondents agree that war between Russia and NATO is inevitable in the next few years, 15 percent are considering moving to another country because they fear a Russian threat to Latvia, while 14 percent agree that a Russian attack on one of the Baltic states is inevitable in the next few years. Moreover, there has been no significant change in agreement with these statements since March this year, the survey notes.
The survey was conducted in June this year among 1,005 respondents – permanent residents of Latvia aged between 18 and 75.
Source: BNS
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