Germany Much More Respected in Europe than Greece

It has been a strategy of the European left, Prime Minister Tsipras and his government to describe Germany and its leadership, especially Chancellor Angela Merkel and Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, as draconian architects of a fourth Reich with its boot on Greece and southern Europe.

Unfortunately for their strategy, public opinion in Europe does not agree. In fact, a poll of a few years ago (Pew Research 2012) asking Europeans to rate countries as hardworking and honest described the Greeks as the least hardworking and Germany the most hardworking and least corrupt. Italy was judged as the most corrupt country. One exception was the Greeks who thought their own country was the most corrupt.

A recent Gallup poll (July 6, 2015) shows that German leadership is highly popular in the European Union. Worldwide, Merkel is as popular as Barack Obama (41% Germany, 45% U.S. approve or disapprove of the job performance of the leadership of….).

See The Buzz: Europeans pick least hardworking and most corrupt