Russians perceive Germany as a friendly state. The bilateral relations were scored 3.5. According to respondents, to strengthen the bilateral relation both countries should develop economic cooperation.
MOSCOW, November 13, 2013. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the data concerning the attitudes of Russians towards Germans and their assessments of Russia-Germany relations and their perspectives.
Every fourth Russian has (had) German relatives, friends or colleagues (26%). Seven percent of Russians happened to visit Germany. At the same time, the remainder reports that they would like to visit this country (57%).
Germany is mainly associated with the Great Patriotic War (29%); Russians also perceive Germany as a developed country (13%) or a European state (11%).
According to Russians, the main trait of the German character is order (67%). They also mention respect or the law (30%), traditions (26%), power (20%) et cet. On the contrary, rarer Russians mention sense of humor or courage (3%, for each).
The most common views about Germany are the following ones: “goods produced by Germany are high quality” (42%) and “people live well in this country” (41%). Less Russians cite corruption or crime among characteristics describing German society (22%).
The Russia-Germany relations are scored 3.5 by Russians (3.65 out of possible 5 scores). At the same time, the relations between these countries are assessed as the friendliest ones compared with other states (70%). Most of Russians assess the attitudes of Germans towards Russia as positive (68%).
The German culture is not so close to the Russian (6.76 according to 1-to-11-score scale, where 1 – most, 11 – least), compared to the Belarusian (2.29) or Ukrainian culture (2.34); though closer than the American culture (8.41).
What brings Russia and Germany together today, according to Russians, is the possibility to jointly solve economic problems (15%); what sets them apart is the memory of the Second World War (12%).
The Russia-Germany relations can be strengthened by developing economic cooperation, most of Russians say (49%). Other factors that influence the development of the bilateral relations involve tourism (29%), political partnership (23%), and culture (20%).
Many Russians purchase goods produced in Germany; mainly domestic appliances (35%), shoes (22%), clothes (17%), et cet. Most of respondents are satisfied with the quality of these goods (85%).
The VCIOM opinion polls were conducted on September 28-29, 2013. 1600 respondents were interviewed in 130 communities in 42 regions of Russia. The margin of error does not exceed 3.4%.
Do you have/have you had German friends, relatives or colleagues? (closed-ended question, one answer) | ||||||
| Total respondents | Aged 18-24 | Aged 25-34 | Aged 35-44 | Aged 45-59 | Aged 60 and over |
Yes | 26 | 21 | 25 | 28 | 29 | 22 |
No | 74 | 79 | 75 | 72 | 71 | 78 |
Have you ever been to Germany, or not? If no, would you like to go there? (closed-ended question, one answer) | ||||||
| Total respondents | Aged 18-24 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-59 | 60 and over |
NO, I have never been there; and I do not want to go there | 35 | 24 | 25 | 29 | 36 | 57 |
NO, I have never been there; but I would like to go there | 57 | 70 | 70 | 64 | 54 | 35 |
Yes, I have been to Germany | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 8 |
What are the first words that come to your mind when you hear the word “Germany”? (open-ended question, any number of answers) | |
Great Patriotic War, fascist, Hitler | 29 |
Developed country | 13 |
Country, European state | 11 |
Order | 7 |
Cars | 5 |
Well-being, high living standards | 4 |
Thoroughness, accuracy, discipline | 3 |
High quality goods | 3 |
Germans | 3 |
Angela Merkel | 2 |
Negative associations | 2 |
Friendly country | 2 |
Culture, traditions | 1 |
Goods associations | 1 |
My friends live there | 1 |
Beer | 1 |
Cleanness | 1 |
Berlin wall | 1 |
Football | 1 |
GDR, FRG | 1 |
Berlin | 1 |
I would like to go there | 1 |
None | 2 |
Other | 2 |
Hard to tell | 15 |
Could you please name three values that you think are the most important for Germans? (closed-ended question, three answers) | |
Order | 67 |
Respect for the law | 30 |
Tradition | 26 |
Respect for the power | 20 |
Family | 16 |
Entrepreneurship | 15 |
Individualism | 10 |
Honesty | 9 |
Pride | 8 |
Religiosity | 7 |
Tolerance | 6 |
Freedom | 6 |
Ingenuity | 6 |
Honor | 6 |
Courage | 3 |
Sense of humor | 3 |
Openness | 2 |
Hard to tell | 10 |
Which statements best and least describe Germany? (closed-ended question, one answer per each position) | ||
| This statement least describes Germany | This statement best describe Germany |
Goods produced in this country are high quality | 6 | 42 |
People live well in this country | 4 | 41 |
Everything functions well in this country; the authorities work effectively | 4 | 34 |
This country has lots of achievements in the culture | 6 | 19 |
The role of this country in the world is growing | 5 | 19 |
The economy of this country is quickly developing | 5 | 17 |
People in this country prefer strong power to freedom and democracy | 9 | 17 |
People in this country do everything on a large scale, using their imagination | 12 | 12 |
People in this country are open to others and spontaneous in their feelings | 14 | 10 |
Society in this country is hit by crime, alcohol addiction and corruption | 22 | 8 |
This country is not friendly towards Russia | 11 | 7 |
This country belongs to the same cultural space as Russia | 10 | 7 |
This is a country of contrasts where poverty of ordinary people sits alongside the luxury of the rich | 21 | 7 |
Could you please assess the current relations between Russia and Germany using the 5-point scale, where 1 – very bad relations, 5 – perfect relations? (closed-ended question, one answer) | |
Average score | 3.65 |
Could you please assess the attitudes of the authorities of the following countries towards Russia: rather friendly or hostile?( closed-ended question, one answer per each position) | |||||||||||
| Belarus | Germany | China | Slovakia | France | Czech Republic | Ukraine | Great Britain | Poland | Lithuania | USA |
Very friendly | 13 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
Rather friendly | 57 | 62 | 58 | 57 | 57 | 56 | 44 | 44 | 36 | 29 | 27 |
Rather hostile | 20 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 22 | 22 | 38 | 30 | 39 | 43 | 47 |
Absolutely hostile | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 16 | 16 |
Hard to tell | 7 | 9 | 11 | 15 | 12 | 15 | 7 | 14 | 13 | 10 | 8 |
Could you please assess the attitudes of people living in the following countries towards Russia: rather friendly or hostile? (closed-ended question, one answer per each position) | |||||||||||
| Belarusi ans | Germans | Chinese | French | Slovaks | Czechs | Ukrai nians | English men | Poles | Lithua nians | Ameri cans |
Very friendly | 15 | 7 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
Rather friendly | 64 | 61 | 58 | 61 | 63 | 61 | 55 | 50 | 44 | 35 | 39 |
Rather hostile | 13 | 21 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 20 | 25 | 26 | 34 | 39 | 37 |
Absolutely hostile | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 10 |
Hard to tell | 7 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 7 | 13 | 11 | 9 | 10 |
What culture is closer to the Russian culture? Place the peoples in the order from the closest to the least close, where 1 – the closest, and 11 – least close. (average score ) | |||||||||||
| Germans | English men | Ameri cans | French | Germans | Lithua nians | Lithua nians | Czechs | Slovaks | Ukrai nians | Belaru sians |
average score | 9.23 | 8.63 | 8.41 | 7.70 | 6.76 | 5.88 | 5.50 | 5.05 | 4.18 | 2.34 | 2.29 |
In your opinion, what brings Russia and Germany together? (open-ended question, any number of answers) | |
Common economic issues | 15 |
Common political views | 7 |
Trade relations | 6 |
Friendly relations, friendship between peoples, many friends there | 4 |
Relations between heads of states | 3 |
Common history (historical roots, common past) | 3 |
Tourism | 3 |
Culture | 2 |
Gas, oil | 2 |
Great Patriotic War | 2 |
Technology and scientific achievements | 2 |
Many people moved to live there | 1 |
Security, fight against terrorism | 1 |
Cars | 1 |
Nothing | 3 |
Other | 1 |
Hard to tell | 47 |
What is impeding the rapprochement of Russia and Germany today? (open-ended question, any number of answers) | |
Memory of Great Patriotic War | 12 |
Political views | 5 |
Different mentality and culture | 4 |
American politics | 3 |
Law living standards in Russia | 2 |
Foreign policy | 1 |
European Union | 1 |
Mutual distrust | 1 |
Visa regime between the two countries | 1 |
Germany is a NATO`s member | 1 |
Economic issues | 1 |
Nothing | 4 |
Other | 1 |
Hard to tell | 64 |
In your opinion, what would strengthen the Germany-Russia relations? (closed-ended question, several answers) | |
Developing economic cooperation (trade and energy) | 49 |
Developing tourism, cancelling a visa regime | 29 |
Strengthening political partnership | 23 |
Developing cultural relations | 20 |
Strengthening the cooperation in science, education and innovations | 16 |
Strengthening the cooperation in security and fight against terrorism | 13 |
Studying the German language in Russia and Russian language in Germany on a wider scale | 11 |
Hard to tell | 8 |
Do you purchase goods produced in Germany? (closed-ended question, any number of answers) | |
Domestic appliances | 35 |
Shoes | 22 |
Clothes | 17 |
Household detergents | 10 |
Perfumery, toiletry | 8 |
Food | 7 |
Auto, motorcycle, scooter | 7 |
Children’s goods | 6 |
Sport goods, bicycles | 6 |
Entertainment | 2 |
None | 34 |
Other | 1 |
Hard to tell | 9 |
What is your impression of these goods? (closed-ended question, one answer) | |
Generally, I am not satisfied with them | 1 |
The goods are different; there are goods that I am satisfied with, and there are those I am not satisfied with | 15 |
I am satisfied with these goods in general | 83 |
Hard to tell | 1 |
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