Russians have a positive image of France and the French, but the assessments of the current bilateral relations look more and more dubious.
MOSCOW, May 28, 2018. The Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) and Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO University) presents the data of a study devoted to the attitudes of Russians towards France and the assessments of Russia-France relations.
Russians have a positive image of France (81% have positive views) and the French (85% like French people). At the same time, the study revealed lack of information: 71% evaluate their level of awareness about France as bad or very bad.
The range of feelings is largely positive; 31% of respondents express respect, 26% trust, and 21% admire France. Almost half of respondents (46%) are curious about this country. An overwhelming majority of Russians portray the French as nice (92%), welcoming (91%), and romantic (90%) people who are also perceived as hard-working (70%) and disciplined (67%).
Russian-French relationships are viewed rather ambiguously: 54% have positive perceptions, 46% have negative views. However, respondents are likely to be positive about the future: 51% believe that the bilateral interactions will improve over the next few years; just 13% oppose them; a further 36% do not expect any considerable changes.
Russians support strengthening of Russia-France relations in various fields: first of all, in the area of security (91%), cultural cooperation (88%), political issues (87%), new technologies (87%), environment protection and climate change (86%), economic relations (86%), tourism (85%), and higher education (82%).
Complete details are available in PPT file
The VCIOM-Sputnik survey was conducted on April 23-27, 2018, upon the request of MGIMO-University. The survey was telephone-based and involved 1,600 Russians aged 18 and over. The data were weighted according to selection probability and social and demographic characteristics. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 2.2%. In addition to sampling error, minor changes in question wording and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey.
What is your general view of France – very good, rather good, rather bad or very bad? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of all respondents) | ||||||
| Total respondents | Aged 18-24 | Aged 25-34 | Aged 35-44 | Aged 45-59 | 60 and over |
Very good | 9 | 15 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 7 |
Rather good | 72 | 74 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 70 |
Rather bad | 16 | 9 | 17 | 15 | 17 | 18 |
Very bad | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 5 |
Which of the following best describes your perception of France? (closed-ended question, one answer not more than three answers, % of all respondents) | |
| Total respondents |
Curiosity | 46 |
Respect | 31 |
Trust | 26 |
Admiration | 21 |
Hope | 17 |
Indifference | 17 |
Enthusiasm | 15 |
Distrust | 11 |
Skepticism | 7 |
Fear | 2 |
Disgust | 1 |
Contempt | 1 |
Broadly speaking, how much are the French appealing to you? (closed-ended question, one answer,, % of all respondents) | |
| Total respondents |
Very much appealing | 8 |
Likely to be appealing | 77 |
Unlikely to be appealing | 12 |
Not at all appealing | 3 |
Broadly speaking, how do you perceive the French people? They are… (closed-ended question, one answer per each characteristic, % of respondents who gave positive (“yes”) answers) | |
Nice | 92 |
Welcoming | 91 |
Romantic | 90 |
Hard-working | 70 |
Disciplined | 67 |
Arrogant | 35 |
In your opinion, are you well or poorly informed about France and the French? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of all respondents) | ||||||
| Total respondents | Aged 18-24 | Aged 25-34 | Aged 35-44 | Aged 45-59 | 60 and over |
Very well informed | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
Likely to be well informed | 26 | 17 | 22 | 23 | 28 | 32 |
Likely to be poorly informed | 52 | 63 | 52 | 54 | 52 | 48 |
Very poorly informed | 19 | 16 | 23 | 20 | 17 | 16 |
In your opinion, are the current state of relations between Russia and France …? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of all respondents) | |
| Total respondents |
Very good | 4 |
Rather good | 50 |
Rather bad | 42 |
Very bad | 4 |
In your opinion, will the Russian-French relations be … over the next few years? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of all respondents) | |
| Total respondents |
Improving | 51 |
Deteriorating | 13 |
Without changes | 36 |
Is it very important/important/not very important/not at all important to strengthen the relations between Russia and France in the following areas? (closed-ended question, one answer per each line, % of all respondents) | ||||
| Very important | Important | Not very important | Not at all important |
Security | 55 | 36 | 6 | 3 |
Environment protection and climate change | 49 | 37 | 9 | 5 |
Political issues | 47 | 40 | 9 | 4 |
Cultural cooperation | 42 | 46 | 9 | 3 |
New technologies | 41 | 46 | 10 | 3 |
Economic relations | 40 | 46 | 11 | 3 |
Higher education | 38 | 44 | 12 | 6 |
Tourism | 37 | 48 | 11 | 4 |
Food and agriculture industries | 32 | 40 | 20 | 8 |
Energy | 30 | 47 | 16 | 7 |
Sport | 29 | 46 | 19 | 6 |
Space | 26 | 40 | 25 | 9 |
Note: Using materials from the site 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!