What is your attitude towards Russia? Researchers looked into the minds of Latvians and Russians 0 8

On the other hand, almost 91% of Latvians feel distrust towards the Russian Federation (which is more than the other anti-rating favorite – the "Islamic states" with almost 87%), while only 2% believe in the big neighbor.

All this was shown by a state-funded research project titled "Vectors of Social Cohesion: From Cohesion Around the National State (2012-2018) to a Cohesive Community of Citizens for the Sake of the State, Society, and Individual Security (2024-2025)" – which was recently presented in parliament.

Returning to our geopolitical preferences, it should be noted that there are differences between Latvians and Russians regarding their favorites, not only concerning Russia. The former have a high level of trust in their Baltic neighbors – over 69%, while the latter fall short of 50%. Latvians trust the Nordic countries – almost 58%, whereas Russians trust them significantly less – under 41%. The perception of the European Union as a positive example is slightly higher as well – 51% and 43%, respectively.

China has clearly emerged as a favorite among Russians – over 20% trust the Middle Kingdom, while Latvians do not trust it at all (79%), with only 3% expressing trust.

There is also an amusing detail – despite the fact that the level of distrust towards the USA among Russians is much higher than among Latvians – over 46% compared to almost 35%, their trust is slightly higher as well, at 22.2% and 21.7%, respectively. In other words, the larger the country, the greater the reverence towards it among Russians, while for Latvians, it is the opposite…