Russians approve of the visit of Dmitry Medvedev to the Kuril Islands and deny the need to discuss the territorial issue with Japan.
MOSCOW, December 8, 2010. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the data describing Russians` attitudes on whether Russia should discuss the Southern Kuril Islands issue with Japan, whether they think that Dmitry Medvedev`s visit to the Kurils was a right step, and what are the ways to tackle the dispute.
Over the recent eight years more Russians prefer to keep the dialog with Japan about the Kurils going (from 15% in 2002 to 22% this year). But those who think the Kurils issue has long been solved and is not subject to be discussed are dominant (63% versus 74% in 2002).
Those who are in favor of the idea to keep the discussion with Japan about the Kurils going are mostly Siberians (38%) and supporters of the Fair Russia party (29%). Those who oppose the idea are residents of the North Western Federal District of Russia (84%) and Southerners (80%), as well as adherents of the CPRF (74%) and LDPR (73%) parties.
The overwhelming majority of Russians regard the visit of Dmitry Medvedev to the Kurils as being the right step (82%). Most of those disapproving this action are supporters of the Fair Russia party (91%), residents of the North Western Federal District of Russia (92%), southerners (90%) and far-easterners (89%). Only 5% think Medvedev was wrong to have visited the Kuril Islands.
The best way to solve the Russia-Japan dispute is to keep the islands Russia`s territory (79%). Those who are in favor of this stance are supporters of the CPRF party (89%). Other ways to solve the issue are as follows: to transfer the four or only two disputed islands to Japan (2% for each), to jointly manage the islands (4%). And finally, 5% of Russians propose to postpone discussing the issue.
The initiative Russian opinion polls were conducted on 4-5 December, 2010. 1600 respondents were interviewed at 138 sampling points in 46 regions of Russia. The marginof error does not exceed 3.4%.
In your opinion, should Russia keep discussing the Kuril Islands issue with Japan, or do you think that this issue has long been solved? (close-ended question, one answer) | ||
| 2002 | 2010 |
Russia should keep discussing the Kuril islands issue | 15 | 22 |
This issue has long been solved and is not subject to discussion | 74 | 63 |
Hard to tell | 11 | 15 |
Dmitry Medvedev was the first Russian leader to have visited the Kuril Islands. His visit was disapproved by Japan which considers its own territory. Which of the following statements do you most agree? (close-ended question, one answer) | |||||||
| Total respondents | Which of the following parties would you vote for, if the State Duma elections were held next Sunday? | |||||
CPRF | LDPR | Fair Russia | United Russia | Non-parliament parties | I would not vote | ||
D.Medvedev was right; he can visit any region of the country. This is our own land, our citizens; we should support them | 82 | 89 | 83 | 92 | 82 | 81 | 80 |
D.Medvedev was wrong; this is our own land but the Kurils should not have been visited. It stirred up the tension in Russia-Japan relations which should be strengthened, but not destabilized | 5 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
Hard to tell | 12 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 13 | 13 | 13 |
In your opinion, what is the way to solve Russia-Japan territorial issue concerning the Kuril Islands? (close-minded question, no more than two answers)
| |||
| 2005 | 2009 | 2010 |
Keep the islands Russian territory and stop discussing the issue | 73 | 79 | 79 |
Leave this issue to be solved by next generations | 6 | 6 | 5 |
To manage the territory jointly by Russia and Japan | 10 | 9 | 4 |
To transfer the four islands to Russia | 2 | 3 | 2 |
To transfer only two islands to Japan; the other two should be kept Russian | 5 | 3 | 2 |
Other | 7 | 1 | 0 |
Hard to tell | 73 | 6 | 12 |
Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory.