Public opinion poll centre Faktum has since 2000 conducted public opinion polls in order to find out the support to Estonia’s joining NATO, how the population is informed of the state’s defence policy, what according to the public opinion are the most relevant security guarantees, what is the opinion of the defence spending level in Estonia and what is the level of the defence willingness.
The currently conducted poll shows that the public support concerning NATO integration is growing continuously. 69% of the population of Estonia are for/rather for Estonia’s joining the Alliance. In February the support extended to 63%.
The corresponding numbers among the Estonian citizens in June were 71% and in February 67%.
Special attention should be given to the fact that the support among the non-Estonians has grown considerably. When in February 39% of the non-Estonians supported the joining process, then in June the support grew up to 52%.
One of the reasons for the continuously growing support is the good level of providing corresponding information to the public. When last year 32% of the respondents considered themselves to be well informed, then the latest results show that 52% of the respondents think they are well informed of NATO-related topics.
Continuously the two most relevant factors in Estonian security are considered to be joining the Alliance (52%) and co-operation as well as good neighbourly relations with Russia (45%).
The Estonian Defence Forces are continuously among the most trustworthy state institutions occupying the forth place after the President, Border Guard and Estonian Bank.