Almost a third (32%) of Bulgarians have a positive attitude towards Vladimir Putin – or so says a Slovak research institute ‘GLOBSEC’ poll conducted one year after the Russian invasion of The Ukraine. 60% have a negative opinion of the Russian leader. In Hungary, where Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has spoken out in support of Moscow, a fifth (21%) of the population likes Putin and 71% have a negative view of him. In less than two years, the group of Bulgarians defining the USA as a strategic partner has decreased from 27% to 20%.
The survey found that Bulgarians have the lowest confidence in the defensive role of NATO, with only 53% believing that membership deters hostile countries from attacking Bulgaria. The survey found that four-fifths of respondents in the eight countries covered by the survey rate democracy as a „good system” of government. In Bulgaria, those who support it are 74%, but when asked if the same applies to „liberal democracy”, this share drops sharply to 50%.
The survey also noted that approval for Viktor Orbán is higher in countries with low trust in their own government while in Hungary, Orbán’s cabinet is approved by 39%, a sharp drop from 55% in April 2022.
