Many Europeans fear that the risk of war with Russia is high, according to a survey conducted in nine EU countries and published today by the French magazine "Grand Continent", reported Agence France-Presse, quoted by BTA.
More than half (51%) of respondents believe that there is a "high" or "very high" risk that Russia will go to war with their country in the coming years, according to the survey, conducted among 9,553 people using the quota method. The survey was conducted at the end of November by the "Cluster 17" institute in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland, Portugal, Croatia, Belgium and the Netherlands, with over 1,000 people surveyed in each country.
They answered the question "In your opinion, is it possible for Russia to go to war with your country in the coming years?"
The perception of the risk of open conflict with Russia varies depending on the country. In Poland, which borders Russia and its ally Belarus, 77% of respondents consider this risk to be high or very high. Their number is 54% in France and 51% in Germany.
Unlike the Poles, 65% of the Italians surveyed consider the risk to be low or non-existent.
The results of this survey also show that 81% of those surveyed do not believe or hardly believe that a war with China will break out in the coming years.
"Therefore, Russia represents, by a large margin, the most serious threat to war according to European public opinion," analyzes the geopolitical publication "Gran Continent."
"If Russia is the major state threat, then terrorism is the most immediate threat in European public opinion. In the nine countries covered by the survey, 63% of those surveyed consider the risk of open war with terrorist organizations to be "high" (or very high - AFP note), the publication adds.
Respondents doubt their own country's military capabilities against Moscow. More than two-thirds (69%) of them believe that their country is "not at all" or "rather not" capable of defending itself against Russian aggression. In France, the only country on the list that has nuclear weapons, respondents are the least pessimistic, with 44% believing that their country is "completely" or "rather" able to defend itself.
At the other end of the spectrum are the Belgians, Italians and Portuguese, who for the most part believe that their country is unable to defend itself (87%, 85% and 85% respectively).
The survey covers a whole range of topics, showing, for example, that 55% of respondents believe that Europe should take a balanced position between the world's two great geopolitical rivals, the US and China.
Almost half, 48%, consider Donald Trump to be "one of the worst presidents in US history", but again there are large differences by country.
The majority of Europeans perceive immigration as "a threat to the unity of the country". This sentiment is more pronounced in the north and east of the continent than in the south.
In addition, Europeans support reducing public spending and the number of civil servants.