Germany is no longer the Romanians’ darling. Which country took its place?
Germany is no longer the Romanians’ favorite country in the world, as it used to be until last year, a local survey shows.
In July 2014, more than 84% of Romanians said they had a good feeling towards Germany, placing it first among their favorite countries. In December 2015, less than 78% of Romanians maintain their good feeling towards Germany, which has fallen to 7th in the popularity ranking, even behind the US.
Spain and Italy are now the Romanians’ favorite countries, according to a recent INSCOP survey. They are also the top destinations for Romanian work migration.
Spain ranks first, with 84.3% of the respondents showing a rather positive feeling towards the country, up from 83.2% in July 2014. Italy comes next, with 82.7% (up from 81%), while Great Britain has fallen to the third place, with 82% (down from 83.5%).
France, the Netherlands and the USA are also among Romanians’ favorite countries. France has moved from 6th to 4th in the popularity ranking, as almost 80% of Romanians have positive feelings towards it, up from 78% in July 2014. Some 78% of Romanians say they like the US.
More than three-quarters of Romanians also like Belgium, Greece, Austria, and Poland.
The Moldova Republic is Romania’s most beloved neighbor, with 74.3% of Romanians having a rather positive feeling towards the country. About 64% of Romanians like Bulgaria, up from only 52.5% in July 2014, while almost 25% don’t like the southern neighbor. Some 60% like Serbia as opposed to 28% who don’t.
Ukraine and Hungary are less popular, with 47%, respectively 36.7% of Romanians having sympathies towards these countries. More than half of Romanians (52.8%) don’t like Hungary.
Russia ranks last, with only 26.8% of Romanians liking this country, down from 37% in July 2014. More than 61% of Romanians say they have negative feelings towards Russia, compared to 51% in the previous survey.
Romanians like Germany the most and Russia the least
Survey: One in three Romanians wants to emigrate, Germany, UK, US, target countries
Diana Mesesan, diana@romania-insider.com
