Like him, many French have accepted President Emmanuel Macron’s depiction of the war as an existential war, a direct threat to peace and the carefully built democracies since the Second World War and reinforced by the creation of NATO and the European Union. Many also worry that Russia’s goals will expand, bringing the war closer to their own doorstep.
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“In France, there is a big concern that if we don’t stop Putin here, he will move on – next will be Poland or the Baltic states. Jérôme Fourquet, one of the leading French opinion pollsters, whose company IFOP, has expressed support for sanctions against Russia and Ukraine in general, said.
Few French, he added, believe Russia’s argument that the war was motivated by NATO and the United States. “For the vast majority of French people, there is no question,” he said. “Clearly Ukraine is the victim and Russia is the attacker.”
Although France has seen widespread strikes in recent weeks due to the high cost of living caused by the war, many French people seem ready to pay the price for their determination. It has helped the government, like Germany’s, to spend massively to cushion some of the effects of inflation and higher energy prices.
Unreasonably warm autumns, with record temperatures in October, also helped buy time – as did the gas Europe saves in the summer, driving prices down and allowing Europe’s reserves to fall. Europe is full of history for this winter.
A new survey of eupinions, a platform for European public opinion by polling organization Bertelsmann Stiftung, shows that 57% of Europeans, down from 60 percent in the summer and 64 percent in March, still in favor of sending weapons to Ukraine.
