Europeans More Inclined to Identify Russians as European than Russians Are, New Poll Finds

Paul Goble

            Staunton, November 19 – A new survey by Germany’s Körber-Stiftung finds that while only 41 percent of Germans and 38 percent of polls do not consider Russia part of Europe, a slightly higher percentage of Russians – 44 percent – say that they do not consider their country part of Europe.

            Moreover, the survey found that Germans and Poles are far more ready to say that a rapprochement of the West and Russia is important or very important – 95 percent and 80 percent respectively – than are Russians. Only 66 percent of Russians made similar declarations (koerber-stiftung.de/pressemeldungen-fotos-journalistenservice/russland-in-europa-kalter-krieg-in-den-koepfen-1187.html and dw.com/ru/опрос-принадлежит-ли-россия-к-европе/a-41323799).

                The Körber Foundation poll also identified some important value differences among the populations of these three countries. According to the survey, 86 percent of Germans, 83 percent of Russians, but only 56 percent of Poles said that showing hostility to foreigners was something now wrong.

            The three also diverged about the role of the mass media and its relationship to the state. The poll found that 76 percent of the Russians said that the task of the media is to support the government and report its decisions to the population. Only 53 percent of the Poles, and 43 percent of the Germans shared that view.