Analytical Report "Russians' View of Europe and Germany" to Be Presented at Rosbalt

An analytical report "Russians' view of Europe and Germany" will be presented today at the round table in the Rosbalt news agency. The report shows how Russians assess the foreign policy of their government, Russia's relations with Europe, especially Germany, and cultural cooperation. The report was done by the institute for complex social studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences together with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Russia.

Researchers found that more than half of Russians (53.9%) believe that Russia's international standing has improved recently (in 2000 this figure was only 5.4%). Furthermore, 82.9% support President Putin's activity in world affairs. However, it seems that over recent years Russians' attitudes to certain countries have changed. For example, only 38.7% of people have a positive view of the USA (in 1995 - 77.6%), 58.9% like Canada (in 1995 - 72.8%) and only 23.7% like Israel (in 1995 - 40.8). Nonetheless, Russians' attitude to France, Germany, England still remains positive after many years.