Niezalezna.PL: Poland is the first among the countries that are against normal relations with Russia

Niezależna.PL: Poland is the first among the countries that are against normal relations with Russia

The war has opened Europeans’ eyes. Significant increase of the quantity of people who consider Russia as an opponent

The number of Europeans who take Russia for an opponent or rival has significantly increased. This is stated in the latest research of the Analytic center of the European Council on International Relations (ECFR). Good to mention that in 2023, 64% of the respondents consider Russia as an opponent or rival; in 2021 – 35,6%.

18,1% of the respondents in 2021 considered Russia as an opponent with which their countries conflict, when in 2023 this opinion is shared by 55 percent. Furthermore, in 2023, 9% of the respondents considered Russia as a rival, “with whom we are to compete”; In 2021 this percentage was 17,5%.

At the same time, 19% of the respondents in 2023 called Russia a “necessary partner”; in 2021 – 35%. Informs the British newspaper The Guardian.

Where is there the biggest increase?

In 2023, the biggest percentage of the respondents that called Russia a necessary partner was fixed in Bulgaria (47%); In the second place are the Hungarians and Austrians (31%); In the third – the Italians (21%).

On the other hand, the first ones among the respondents that called Russia an opponent or rival were the Danes (generally 83 percent). Behind were Poles and Swedes (78 percent) and the Datch people (76 percent).

A survey of ECFR was conducted in 2023 in Austria, Bulgaria, Dania, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden, “to understand how European citizens see their place in the world today”.

What have the researchers found out?

According to actors, European citizens found out after Russia’s invasion in Ukraine that they live in a world where there is a lack of international cooperation. They stand for the neutrality of their states in the American-Chinese conflict and, in spite of closer contacts with the United States, do not want to be dependent solely on American security guarantees.

‘The results of the survey show that their (Europeans’) instincts about cooperation in foreign policy are slowly getting used to the new geopolitical reality, which is characterized by increasing polarization’, - the authors of the research evaluated.

ECFR has also researched European’s considering the after-war relations of their countries with Russia. 39 percent of the responders from Poland spoke in favor of total termination of all relations, 42 percent – of limitation the relations and 8 percent – of full-fledged relations. Thus, Poland has turned out to be in the first place among the countries the inhabitants of which stand against getting back into normal relations with Russia after achieving peace in Ukraine.

That is not all yet

China recognized as a necessary partner 43% of all respondents and as a rival or opponent – 36%. The approach to relations with China in Europe is polarized. 39% of the respondents are not against Chinese companies building infrastructure in Europe, for instance, ports or bridges. 43% do not agree with this.

32 percent of all the respondents consider the USA as an ally that shares “our values”, 43 percent – as a necessary partner, 7 percent – as an opponent and 4,5 percent – as a rival ‘with whom we are in conflict’.

12% of the Bulgarians consider the USA as an enemy, unlikely to total absence of that thought among the Danes. 2 percent of the Polish and the Dutch people share the thought.

Furthermore, 74% of the respondents from all the countries believe that ‘Europe can always rely on the USA and needs its own defense capabilities’, which is 8% more than in 2021.

‘Europeans want the EU to become more independent in foreign policy and build its own defense capabilities’, - one of the authors of the report, Jana Pulierin, adding that these needs are “sharpened” by the war in Ukraine and the increase in tensions in American-Chinese relations.

Translated by Maksym Maliienko