Posted Sep 29, 2022, 9:53 AM
Wind of favorable opinions for NATO. According to an annual study by the German Marshall Fund (GMF) , the importance of the political-military alliance “as a security actor” jumped 11 points in one year. This opinion study by the American research institute, called “transatlantic trends”, was conducted in July in 14 countries in North America and Europe (United States, Canada, France, Poland and Turkey, in particular ) and with 1,500 people per country.
In detail, 78% of those polled believe that NATO is “very” or “rather” important for the security of their country, compared to 67% in 2021. The countries closest to Russia and Ukraine are those who give it a lot of importance (91% in Poland, 88% in Romania, 87% in Lithuania). But high percentages are also to be noted in Western European countries, such as Portugal (90%), the Netherlands (81%) or Germany (80%). The only more nuanced country: Turkey, with 21% of respondents deeming NATO “very important” for their security and 44% “rather important”.
“The story of a Europe divided between East and West does not really hold, these figures show that it is much more complicated than that”, comments the deputy director of the Paris office of the research center, Martin Quencez. A point of view that contrasts with a poll carried out by the Pew Research Center in 2020: at the time, only 57% of Germans were in favor of him, and 49% on the side of French citizens. The launch of the war in Ukraine by Russia on February 24, 2022 and the closer unity of NATO member countries – and even its enlargement to Sweden and Finland – which resulted from it are not unrelated to this.
The United States less perceived as influential
The German Marshall Fund also surveyed citizens’ perceptions of the sense of security provided by the European Union and the political influence of the United States on the globe. Thus 81% of those polled believe that the EU is important for their national security. France (73%) and Italy (75%) are behind Portugal (94%) or Spain (82%). Non-EU countries such as the United Kingdom (67%) and Turkey (58%) also describe it as an important player in their security.
If the United States is still perceived as “the most influential power in the world” by 64% of respondents, this influence is set to decrease drastically, according to them. They are only 37% to consider this country as the main world player in five years. Some 25% believe that China will be the most influential power, 15% the EU, and 10% Russia. Furthermore, Germany (75%), France (65%) and the United Kingdom (55%) are considered to be the most influential countries in Europe.
With AFP
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