More and more Russians consider Russia to be part of Europe, not the center of the Eurasian world, Director of the Federal Sociology Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, RAS member Mikhail Gorshkov told a conference Friday, December 7.
“Our October 2018 survey showed that Russians’ foreign policy preferences have not changed in any way. However, the share of those who consider Russia an integral part of Europe is growing: more than 48% of respondents. In 2014, there were significantly fewer people, 36%, sharing this view,” Mikhail Gorshkov noted at the 8th Russian Congress of Political Scientists at the Financial University under the Government of Russia.
According to him, the majority of respondents positively assess Russia’s future in the world community.
“As many as 67% of respondents say that, to become one of the world leaders, Russia must develop the economy; 66% believe the country needs to achieve a high level of citizens’ well-being; 41% said it must have a powerful army; 30% see the key to success in a high level of culture; and 20% checked respect for democracy. The smallest number of respondents (2%) believes that to succeed, Russia does not need to struggle to become a great power,” the sociologist said.
He noted that in 2018, Russians’ attitude towards sanctions began to change.
“A total of 67% of respondents negatively assess the sanctions imposed against us. However, only 47% feel good about our retaliatory sanctions, while 25% think “rather negatively” of them. Only 8% of respondents consider Western sanctions a positive thing for Russia,” Mikhail Gorshkov noted.
The majority of Russians began overlooking certain political television stories, the expert pointed out.
“They have had an overdose of this kind of information. This has led to many Russians changing their opinion on certain political clichés,” the sociologist concluded.