Eighty-one percent of the Romanians answering an INSCOP survey think the country should choose the West, namely EU, US, and NATO, when it comes to political and military alliances. 

The survey, quoted by Agerpres, showed 10.4% of the respondents thought the country should choose the East, specifically Russia and China, while 8.6% did not know or did not answer the question.

A total of 61.4% of those surveyed said Romania’s EU accession brought advantages, while 35.2% were of the opposite opinion, and 3.4% did not answer.

Another 31.9% think that, as a member state, Romania needs to follow the EU rules even when its national interests are impacted, while 64.2% said Romania should defend its national interests when they are in disagreement with the EU rules, even if it risks losing the EU membership. 

Furthermore, 77.5% of the respondents think the EU should not come apart in the following years, 16% are of the opposite opinion, while 6.5% did not know or did not answer.

The survey also showed 66.6% of the respondents think NATO will defend Romania in case of an aggression, while 29.3% think the country will have to defend itself if such a scenario occurs.

Of those surveyed, 75.4% agreed with the statement “The existence of US military bases in Romania will help defend the country in case of an external aggression.” Twenty percent disagreed with the statement. According to 71.3% of those surveyed, the US has a positive influence on Romania, while 16.9% think Russia has a positive influence on the country.

When it comes to Romanians’ attitudes towards Russia, 61.7% think, over time, Russia harmed the country, while 19.1% that it helped. At the same time, 55.8% believe, over time, Western countries helped Romania, while 32.1% think they harmed it. 

The survey “Public mistrust: West vs. East. The rise of the nationalist trend in the era of disinformation and fake news phenomenon” was carried out by INSCOP Research in a partnership with Verifield at the request of the Strategic Thinking Group think-tank as part of a research project supported by the German Marshal Fund of the United States and funded by the Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation through True Story Project. It was carried out between March 1 and March 12 among 1,100 respondents who answered phone interviews. The error margin of the survey is +/-2.95%. More about the survey here. 

(Photo: Fotografescu | Dreamstime.com)

simona@romania-insider.com