Europeans who support #right-wing populist parties have historically been more likely than other Europeans to express a positive view of #Russia and its president, Vladimir #Putin. While that is generally still the case today, favorable opinions of Russia and Putin have declined sharply among Europe’s populists following Russia’s #military invasion of #Ukraine, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis.
The decline in favorable views of Russia and Putin has been especially pronounced among populists in #Italy, which will hold an election on Sept. 25 to determine if the far-right Brothers of Italy party – backed by two other right-wing populist parties, #Lega and #ForzaItalia – will lead the winning coalition. Favorable opinions of Russia have declined by 49 percentage points among supporters of Lega and Forza Italia since 2020 – the biggest decrease of any measured in the Center’s analysis.
Overall, positive ratings of Russia dropped by 15 points or more among supporters of most right-wing populist parties in #Europe between 2020 and 2022. In #France, for example, a majority of National Rally supporters (55%) held a favorable view of Russia in 2020, but just about a fifth (21%) do so now – a drop of 34 points. In #Hungary, which was last surveyed in 2019, and #Germany, supporters of #Fidesz and Alternative for Germany ( #AfD) also have become less positive toward Russia, with favorability dropping 15 points in both countries.

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/09/23/among-european-right-wing-populists-favorable-views-of-russia-and-putin-are-down-sharply/ #fdi #war #sweden #uk #greece #netherlands #spain #poland