Western liberal democracies are more inclined to have a negative attitude towards Russia, according to a global survey
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Negative views of Russia are primarily confined to Western liberal democracies, a new global survey conducted by the Alliance of Democracies Foundation has found. At the same time, Asian countries maintain strong support for Russia, while Latin American nations appear to be split on the matter.
Published by Latana on Monday, this year’s annual Democracy Perception Index surveyed 53 highly populated countries in Asia, Latin America, the US and Europe, asking respondents a number of questions ranging from their perception of their own country’s democracy to their opinion of other nations.
The report found there was a sharp polarization between Western countries and the rest of the world in their attitude towards Russia. In Europe, 55% of countries were in favor of cutting economic ties with Russia in light of its military offensive against Ukraine, while in Asia the majority of countries were against such moves. In Latin America, opinion was evenly split.
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A majority of 31 countries were in favor of cutting ties with Moscow, but 20 of these were in Europe. Among the countries with the most negative attitude towards Russia was Poland (87%), Portugal (79%), Sweden (77%), Italy (65%), Great Britain (65%), USA (62%), and Germany (62%).
By contrast, a total of 20 countries opposed cutting ties with Russia, including Greece, Kenya, Turkey, China, Israel, Egypt, Nigeria, Indonesia, South Africa, Vietnam, Algeria, the Philippines, Hungary, Mexico, Thailand, Morocco, Malaysia, Peru, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia. Opinions in Colombia were evenly split on the issue.
The survey also noted the countries with the most positive attitude towards Russia, among which were India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, and Egypt.
The poll showed that, while there were mixed opinions on Russia, the world had strong sympathy for Ukraine. Almost half of respondents worldwide (46%) reportedly stated that the EU, the US, and NATO were providing too little assistance to Kiev, while just 11% felt they were doing “too much.”
