Russia’s Anti-NATO Behavior Backfires

Gallup reports the collapse of support among NATO’s Eastern members for “Russian leadership” after the Crimea annexation in 2014 and continuing with ongoing military threats. Disapproval of Russian leadership went from 32 percent in 2013 to 58 percent in 2014, with approval dropping from 30 to 26 percent. Disapproval is now 49 percent and approval at 27 percent. 

These are the 14 countries that joined NATO after 1997 that President Putin now demands be abandoned by the alliance. Some countries feel especially threatened by Russia.

Disapproval of Russia across the NATO eastern bloc is much higher in 2021 than before the seizure of the Crimea and war in eastern Ukraine. Gallup states from previous data: “Most NATO member countries in the region have seen the alliance as protection rather than the threat that Russia portrays…”