Most of respondents believe that the Nice tragedy could have been avoided, if the French government had paid more attention to the security issues, and the security forces had acted more actively.
MOSCOW, July 29, 2016. Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VCIOM) presents the data of the survey describing the Russian opinion about the French terror attack: who is to blame; what the reasons are.
The Nice terror attack that claimed the lives of dozens of people has drawn a wide response in the Russian society: 85% of Russians are aware of that.
The tragedy may have been avoided, according to 56% of Russians; those who are to be blamed for the failure to prevent the tragedy are police and French security forces.
Russians find it hard to name the organizers and to define the reason behind the terror attack (52% and 64%, respectively). Those who give informative answers tend to mention the ISIL (24%) and other terrorist groups (8%). Three percent of Russians say that it was a lone-wolf terrorist. The basic reason behind the attack are the ISIL ideology (10%), unsolved European problems (7%), uncontrollable migration (5%), personal reasons of the terrorist (4%), et cet.
What the French authorities should do to prevent such terror attacks in the future is, on the one hand, to strengthen the security measures (24%), to improve the work of the police and security forces (9%),and on the other hand, to toughen the immigration control (14%).
The VCIOM survey was carried out on July 23-24, 2016 in 130 settlements, 46 regions and 9 federal districts of Russia. The sample size involved 1600 persons. The survey was conducted with multi-stage stratified sample based on general rule of walking and quotas at the final selection stage; the sample is representative of the Russian population aged 18 and over, according to sex, age, education, type of settlement. The margin of error (taking into account the design effect) with 95% confidence interval does not exceed 3.5%. The survey method is community-based formalized face-to-face interviews. In addition to sampling error, minor changes in question wording and different circumstances arising during the field work can introduce bias into the survey.
Last week, a terror attack occurred in Nice, France. A truck ploughed into a crowd watching the firework on a national holiday. Do you know about that, or have you heard about it for the first time? | ||||||
| Total respondents | Aged 18-24 | Aged 25-34 | Aged 35-44 | Aged 45-59 | Aged 60 and more |
I am well aware of that | 42 | 28 | 39 | 38 | 45 | 52 |
I heard something but I do not know any details | 43 | 49 | 41 | 43 | 44 | 43 |
This is the first time I hear about that | 14 | 22 | 20 | 18 | 10 | 5 |
Don’t know | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
In your opinion, could the terror attack have been prevented? | ||||
| April 2010* | November 2013** | January 2014*** | July 2016 |
Yes, it could have been prevented | 54 | 41 | 45 | 56 |
No, nothing can protect against terrorism | 33 | 49 | 44 | 25 |
Don’t know | 13 | 10 | 11 | 19 |
*In April 2010, the question referred to the Moscow metro terror attacks.
**In November 2013, the question referred to a suicide bombing attack in a bus in Volgograd.
***In January 2014, the question referred to the Volgograd terror attacks.
Who is to be blamed for the failure to prevent these terror attacks? (open-ended question, not more than three answers, % of those who are confident that the terror attack could have been prevented; answers of at least 1% of respondents) | |
| Total respondents |
Police / army / security agencies | 38 |
Authorities | 33 |
Carelessness of civilians | 2 |
French foreign policy | 1 |
European politicians, EU | 1 |
Other | 2 |
No one | 2 |
Don’t know | 28 |
In your opinion, who organized the Nice terror attack? (open-ended question, not more than three answers) | |
| Total respondents |
ISIL | 24 |
Terror groups | 8 |
Lone-wolf terrorist | 3 |
Migrants | 3 |
Muslims | 2 |
USA | 2 |
Mentally ill people | 1 |
World government | 1 |
West | 1 |
Those who benefit from that | 1 |
Other | 4 |
Don’t know | 52 |
In your opinion, what is the cause of the Nice terror attack? (open-ended question, not more than three answers, answers of at least 1% of respondents) | |
| Total respondents |
ISIL ideology | 10 |
Unsolved European problems | 7 |
Lack of control at the borders, high migration rate | 5 |
Personal life of the terrorist | 4 |
French foreign policy | 2 |
Hatred, human exacerbation | 2 |
Fight against terrorism | 2 |
Inactivity of police | 1 |
Inactivity of authorities | 1 |
Interest of a small group of people | 1 |
Disorder | 1 |
Ethnic hostility | 1 |
U.S. activities | 1 |
Other | 2 |
Don’t know | 64 |
In your opinion, what measures should the French authorities take to prevent similar terror attacks? (open-ended question, not more than three answers, answers of at least 1% of respondents) | |
| Total respondents |
To strengthen security | 24 |
To toughen control over migrants and the border | 14 |
To improve the work of the police and special services | 9 |
To counteract terrorism | 4 |
To conduct adequate domestic and foreign policy | 3 |
To have close friendly relationships with Russia | 1 |
To strengthen the army | 1 |
To declare state of emergency / curfew | 1 |
Severe punishment for terrorists | 1 |
Other | 1 |
Nothing will help | 1 |
Don’t know | 45 |
Note: Using materials from the websites www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory.