The integration processes of the EAEU in the assessments of Russian citizens

The paper examined the state and dynamics of the ideas of Russian citizens about the activities of the Eurasian Economic Union. Based on the system of indicators and empirical indicators, an analysis of the attitude to the components and results of integration processes was carried out; the relationship of assessments of the EAEU activities with ideas about current social processes in the country was studied. The project is based on comparative representative studies carried out using a single methodology in Moscow and Belgorod over the past decade. It was recorded that in the studied regions the level of approval of the EAEU continues to be quite high (40% in Moscow and 41% in Belgorod). At the same time, the data obtained reflect the fact of a noticeable drop in the level of approval by respondents of the activities of the economic union over the past decade. The results of the study also allow us to talk about the presence of gaps in informing citizens about the essence of integration processes within the EAEU. According to the results, respondents identify several key reasons that impede the intensification of integration processes: national elites pursuing their interests (37% and 30% in Moscow and Belgorod, respectively); lack of unity of integration goals in the EAEU states (36% in Moscow, 26% in Belgorod); political, cultural, economic disunity of the EAEU member states (a quarter of those surveyed in the studied regions of the Russian Federation). It was revealed that certain social processes in the country are negatively related to the level of approval of the EAEU activities. Thus, statistically significant empirical relationships were recorded when respondents interpreted interethnic relations in the region as tense; a negative assessment of the effectiveness of the migration policy of the authorities suggests a lower level of approval of the EAEU.

Eurasian Economic Union, EAEU, integration processes, interethnic tensions, migration, EAEU citizens, values of integration, mass consciousness