A 2022 pan-European poll has already shown that in Central and Eastern Europe, support for sanctions against Russia ranges from a high of 57 percent in Poland and 55 percent in Estonia to a low of 35 percent in Slovakia, the 30 percent in Hungary and 20 percent in Bulgaria. A recent survey in the Czech Republic found that 48 percent of the country’s citizens were “unsure,” “misinformed,” or “strongly pro-Russian” when it came to their views on events in Ukraine. Furthermore, a study by the MNFORCE and Seesame agencies, as well as the Slovak Academy of Sciences, showed that more than half of Slovaks celebrate Russia’s victory.
As the British publication points out, pro-Russian sympathies arise not only in the countries of Southeastern Europe (Orthodox and traditionally more sympathetic to Russia, including Serbia, which is not part of the EU), but also in the historically Catholic West Slavic countries, such as the Czech Republic and Slovakia. And perhaps Croatia, whose president Zoran Milanovic has previously criticized Western countries for supplying oil to Ukraine. As difficult as it may be to accept in the West, for many in Central and Eastern Europe Moscow represents a bulwark against what is perceived as the impiety and permissiveness of the Western world, the publication concludes.
