Romania’s big brother: Who do the Romanians hope to defend them in case of a conflict?

Half of the Romanians (49.7%) see the US as Romania’s main ally in case the country’s national security is threatened, a recent INSCOP survey shows. The percentage of those who see the US as Romania’s main ally increased from 45.9% in April 2015. “The Romanians’ choice is natural given that our country has a strategic partnership with the US, and the Washington administration has increased its military presence in the region after the crisis in Ukraine started,” INSCOP representatives explained. The next allies that Romanians would expect to help them in case of a conflict are Germany and France. Some 9.2% of Romanians think that Germany would help Romania, down from 16.7% in April 2015, and 4.5% expect help to come from France. Next are the Republic of Moldova – 3.5%, the UK – 2.4%, and Italy – 1.7%. Under 1% of Romanians would expect help from China, Poland, and Spain. More than a quarter (27.5%) of the surveyed people didn’t answer or said they don’t know. Most Romanians sympathize with western countries but don’t have the same good feeling towards most of their neighbors, the survey also shows. Romania ranks first among the Romanians’ favorite countries, with 85.4% of the respondents saying that they have rather positive feelings for their home country. The popularity ranking continues with the countries that represent the primary destination for Romanian immigration, namely Italy (83.5% of respondents have rather positive feelings for this country), Spain (83%), and the UK (82.3%). The top ten continues with the Netherlands (78.7%), France (78%), the US (77.8%), Japan (77.3%), Greece (77.4%), and Poland (74.5%). Some 73.7% of respondents have rather positive feelings for Germany, 72.6% - Austria, 72.1% - Belgium. The Republic of Moldova is the Romanians’ favorite neighbor-country, 71.1% of the survey respondents expressing their sympathy towards the eastern neighbor. Only 51% of Romanians have a good feeling towards Bulgaria while 40% don’t particularly like the southern neighbor. The percentages are similar in Serbia’s case. Ukraine and Hungary are the least favorite neighbors. Only 39% of the respondents say they have positive feelings towards Ukraine as opposed to 49% who have rather negative feelings, and 38.5% sympathize with Hungary compared to 54% who don’t. Russia, Syria, and Iran are least liked by Romanians, according to the study. The survey was conducted at the request of Adevarul newspaper between March 21 and March 28, on a sample of more than 1,000 people. US Ambassador: The antimissile shield at Deveselu will become operational in March 2016 Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com