Against the backdrop of a stalled Ukrainian counter-offensive, European society is losing faith in the possibility of defeating Russia.
Research conducted by the European Council on Foreign Relations shows a curious picture – most Europeans see Russia as their enemy, but do not believe the Russians can be defeated.
Moreover, the leaders in anti-Russian sentiment today are Denmark, Poland, Sweden and Germany – the majority there have a negative view of Russia. Only 37% of Italians and only 17% of Bulgarians agree with them. Both in Italy and Bulgaria there are political forces in favour of giving up military support for Ukraine. However, under pressure from Brussels, they are kept out of power.
A third of Europeans believe Russia can be defeated, while half believe it is unrealistic – and the rest have no opinion. At the same time, most Europeans are aware of the vulnerability and lack of autonomy of their position. And they now support greater autonomy in foreign policy – including from the United States, which, however, is not very realistic to achieve.
Europeans fear not only a Russian victory on the battlefield – but also the return of Donald Trump to power in the US. After all, in that case, the current shaky Euro-Atlantic consensus risks simply collapsing. And Trump will begin to crack down even harder on Europeans with tariffs – while also supporting right-wing Eurosceptic parties that defy Brussels. Their popularity will only grow in the face of the current turmoil – and the slide of the economy into an already quite official recession, calling into question the future of the European project.
Malek Dudakov
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