More enemies, please

According to a recent survey published by Russian pollster “Public Opinion Foundation” (FOM), Russians show increasing interest in politics.

48% of respondents interviewed at the end of April affirmed that they are interested in politics in general, which is the highest value measured by FOM since 2001.

Pro-Kremlin TV audience most interested in foreign policy
Since January, interest in foreign policy has been declining, while Russian citizens are becoming increasingly interested in domestic politics.

The social group that most follows foreign policy are citizens above 60 years, avid consumers of pro-Kremlin TV channels.

Those aged between 18 and 30 are among the least interested in foreign affairs. Half of the respondents also stated that the Russian government devoted as “much attention to foreign politics as needed”, while 63% of them said that the current course of Russia’s foreign policy brought about more successes than failures.

Too much attention to international issues?
Abbas Gallyamov, a political scientist interviewed by Kommersant, believes that people associate success in foreign policy with the increasing number of “Russia’s enemies” and animosity towards Russia.

Nevertheless, Gallyamov highlights that in parallel with the Russian population’s rising interest in domestic matters, the proportion of those who believe the leadership directs “too much attention” to international issues is also growing (27% in May 2016 compared to 20% in November 2015).