Most Finns, Swedes approve of NATO’s leadership
Highlights of the story
- 81% of Finns and 74% of Swedes approve of NATO’s leadership
- 62% of Finns and 40% of Swedes approve of US leadership
- 6% of Finns and 2% of Swedes approve of Russian leadership
WASHINGTON, DC — With only six member states still needing to approve their accession, there are few obstacles left for Sweden and Finland to become NATO’s newest members.
Gallup polls suggest there is also little opposition among the public in these countries, with strong majorities in Finland (81%) and Sweden (74%) approving of the alliance’s leadership.
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Surveys in Sweden and Finland took place between April and July 2022, overlapping each country’s formal request to join the alliance in mid-May as the war between Ukraine and Russia intensified. Both countries faced warnings from Russia not to continue membership in the alliance.
Finns’ approval of US leadership hits new high as they mourn Russia
More than six in ten Finns express their approval of US leadership in 2022, up from 52% in 2021 and representing a new peak. This new highlight comes after the Biden administration expressed strong support for Finnish membership in NATO. Before 2010, 30% or less of Finns approved of US leadership. But from 2010 to 2016, during the administration of President Barack Obama, no less than 45% expressed the same sentiment. In 2017, after Obama left office, Finns’ view of US leadership dropped again – no more than 21% expressing their approval from 2017 to 2020.
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Finns’ view of Russian leadership is almost universally negative, with only 6% approving and 92% disapproving. Approval has only been this low once before, when it fell to 7% after Crimea joined Russia in 2014. No less than 77% of Finns have disapproved of Russia’s leadership every year since 2014.
Swedes mixed about US leadership, deeply negative towards Russia’s
Swedes are less encouraging than Finns about US leadership, but they are even more negative about Russia’s leadership. In 2022, 40% of Swedes approve of American leadership, down from 52% in 2021. The 2022 approval rating still represents a significantly more positive attitude toward American leadership than was seen between 2017 and 2020, when no more than 13% of Swedes approved of the US ‘s leadership.
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Only 2% of Swedes approve of Russia’s leadership in 2022, while 96% disapprove. Russian leadership has not been popular in Sweden for the past two decades. At no point in Gallup’s trend have more than 9% of Swedes approved of Russia’s leadership.
Conclusion
A clear majority of Finns and Swedes approve of NATO’s leadership because they are ready to join the ranks of the alliance. This may change depending on the outcome of the war in Ukraine. It is likely that both countries are broadly positive towards NATO as they see membership as a potential security guarantor against potential threats from Russia.
Both Finns and Swedes have seen significant swings in their approval of US leadership. But across most of the trends in both countries, approval of US leadership has surpassed Russian leadership. Given the aggressive Russian policies of recent years, the approval of NATO leadership is also likely to exceed that of Russia in the future.
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For complete methodology and specific exam dates, please review Gallup’s country data set details.
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