CyBC poll shows that 58 percent of Cypriots oppose anti-Russian sanctions
More than half (58 percent) of Cypriots are against anti-Russian sanctions, and an overwhelming majority (86 percent) oppose sending weapons from Cyprus to Ukraine, according to a poll conducted at the request of the CyBC Cypriot Broadcasting Corporation.
Russia earlier sent a note to NATO countries over arms deliveries to Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted that any shipments that contained weapons for Ukraine would be a legitimate target for Russia. The Russian Foreign Ministry said that NATO countries were “playing with fire” by supplying weapons to Ukraine. Russian presidential press secretary Dmitriy Peskov noted that pumping Ukraine with weapons from the West did not contribute to the success of the Russian-Ukrainian negotiations and would have a negative effect.
Speaking about the position of Cyprus on the crisis in Ukraine, 54% of respondents said that the Government of Cyprus should have condemned the actions of Russia in Ukraine, 41% believe that it should not have done so, and 5% have no opinion on this matter.
When asked if Cyprus should participate in the EU’s anti-Russian sanctions, 58% of respondents answered negatively, 36% supported the sanctions, and 6% had no opinion.
86% of respondents were against sending military assistance to Ukraine, 9% were for it, and 5% had no opinion.
At the same time, the vast majority (90%) of respondents believe that the situation in Ukraine had a negative impact on the economy of Cyprus.
Among the most important problems that Cyprus faces today 26% of respondents named high prices and cost of living, 18% – corruption, 15% – the economy. The relationship with Turkey worries 8% of Cypriots, the same number considers migration a problem, 3% named the pandemic as the most important problem. Only 1% of the respondents named the conflict in Ukraine among the main problems.
Against a background of rising prices the greatest concern of respondents is the rising cost of food (37%), electricity (31%) and gasoline (25%).
Only 13% of respondents believe that the country is moving in the “right direction”, 62% believe that in the wrong direction, 69% of surveyed Cypriots are not satisfied with the work of Nikos Anastasiades as President, 28% – are satisfied.
Interested in the upcoming presidential elections in February 2023, 63% of respondents.
In the upcoming presidential elections, 30.5% of respondents support the former Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulidis, 19% – the leader of the ruling party “Democratic Gathering” (DISI) Averof Neofita, 17% – representative of the left-wing opposition Andreas Mavroyiannis.
The poll was conducted by CMRC company in the period of October 4-14, 2022. 1224 people were polled by telephone interview to a representative sample, the margin of error does not exceed 2.5%.
