Up to a third of Europeans consider Crimea to be Russian
More than a third of citizens of Germany, France and the UK believe that Crimea is part of Russia, according to a survey conducted by Sputnik.
 |
| Yalta, Crimea |
In France, the number of people calling Crimea a Russian peninsula increased by 11% compared to 2016, reaching 37%. In Germany, 38% of respondents held this view, which is an increase of one percentage point compared to three years ago.
The survey was conducted for the first time in the UK and the US. In the UK, 34% of respondents said that Crimea is Russian territory. The lowest percentage of those agreeing with this view was in the US, but even there 27% of respondents recognized Crimea as Russian.
The opposite view is held by 34% of residents of France and the UK, 43% of people in Germany and 27% of Americans. Over three years the number of French people who do not consider Crimea to be Russian has decreased by 11%, the number of Germans holding this view has decreased by five percent.
Meanwhile, in the United States, 46% of respondents could not provide an answer, the highest figure among all four countries.
In France, Britain and the United States, more men than women agree with the statement that Crimea is part of Russia. This view is supported mainly by French, British and American university graduates, as well as people of retirement age. In Germany, the situation is very different: young people and those with lower levels of education and women are more likely to call Crimea Russian territory.
The study was conducted by Ifop, the oldest polling company in France. 4,010 people over the age of 18 participated in the survey.
