WASHINGTON
Populations on both sides of the Atlantic see NATO as the central actor for national security in the face of security challenges in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, according to a new report.
The Transatlantic Trends 2014 Survey found that 61 percent of Europeans and 58 percent of Americans say that NATO is still essential for their security. In the Netherlands, 81 percent agreed.
"NATO is completing the picture for the EU, which should remain together politically and not dismantle," said Ambassador Stefano Manservisi, the head of the European Union Delegation to Turkey.
The biggest gains in support for NATO's centrality were in Poland and Turkey – two states bordered by turmoil in Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
The crisis in Ukraine has increased the alliance’s rating in Poland by 15 percent as compared to last year (47 percent - 62 percent).
In Turkey, which borders three major hotspots –Iraq, Syria and Ukraine – 49 percent of the population considered NATO essential to national security, "a 10 percentage point increase from 2013 and the highest result obtained since 2004 (53 percent)," said the report.
Favorability of the European Union also rose among Turkish respondents.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland, speaking at the survey’s release panel at the German Marshal Fund, said that there is a desire among Western populations for strong resolute transatlantic leadership.
"The reasons for these are clear ... rule of law, sovereign choice, peace and security and human rights are now threatened by revisionist foreign powers, and radical extremists," she said.
Nuland noted that Europeans and Americans want their leaders to stand up and stand together in defense of all the security challenges in Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
- Obama disapproved of by Americans, approved by Europeans
The survey also found that for the first time in its 13-year history, a majority of Americans disapprove of their president's international policies (53 percent) but a majority of Europeans (64 percent) approved.
"One of the hardest responsibilities of any leader is communicating about why we do what we do. It is particularly difficult when there are some information that can be shared and some information that cannot be so easily shared," said Lawrence C. Mandel, deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in in Ankara, Turkey.
Germans’ view of the Obama administration has shifted amid tensions over spying allegations.
"The most notable shift in opinion was in Germany, where 56 percent of respondents — a 20 percentage point drop from last year — retained a positive opinion of Obama’s international policies, while 38 percent, a 19 percentage point increase from 2013, disagreed," the survey noted.
- Majority favors confrontation with Russia
The trends indicate that a majority desire continued economic and political support for Ukraine, even if that means a risk of conflict with Russia. Most Russians (53 percent), however, said their country should act to maintain its influence over Ukraine, even if there is a risk of conflict with the EU.
"A majority of Americans polled were willing to give NATO membership to Ukraine (68 percent), and a majority of Europeans were willing to offer it EU membership (52 percent).”
The majority of Americans and their neighbors across the pond believed that NATO should protect the borders of its member countries, 59 percent to 73 percent, respectively. And 43 percent of Americans are in favor of the alliance conducting military operations outside the borders of the U.S. and EU, while 51 percent of the Europeans are against it.
Other findings from the survey included that a majority of Americans and Europeans favored each others' countries to be in a leadership position.
At least 56 percent of the Europeans want the U.S. to be in a leadership position in the world, while 70 percent of the Americans are in favor of Europe in a strong leadership position.
"Leadership, for us, does not mean someone telling what to do, but it means sharing a vision and helping us all move forward towards that vision," said Mandel.
Fifty-nine percent of Americans and 73 percent of Europeans state that NATO should protect the borders of its member countries, and 43 percent of the Americans are in favor of NATO conducting military operations outside the borders of the U.S. and EU, while 51 percent of Europeans are against this.
Americans and Europeans also differ about the course of the transatlantic partnership. About 34 percent of Americans want the relationship to be closer, but just 19 percent of Germans surveyed felt this way.
Europeans who think that their respective countries should be more independent from the U.S. stand at 52 percent, an 8 percent increase from 2013. For Germans, however, 57 percent think that Germany should act more independently from the U.S. on areas of security and diplomacy – a 17 percent increase compared to 2013.
"Getting consensus for our policies when we all have slightly different perspectives is never an easy thing," Mandel added.
The Transatlantic Trends Survey is an annual survey of U.S. and European public opinion conducted by Washington-based German Marshall Fund of the United States and the Compagnia di San Paolo, with additional support from several other European NGOs and states as well as the United States, Russia, and Turkey.
The survey was conducted by TNS Opinion between June 2-26 in the U.S., Turkey, Russia and 10 EU member countries - France, Greece, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
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