Membership support had risen to an all-time high of 28 percent in the previous iteration of the survey in January. The share of those who opposed joining the Defense League, on the other hand, fell to 42 per cent and fell below 50 per cent for the first time.
The latest study was conducted in a shorter period than usual, but otherwise using the same method due to changes in the Finnish security environment caused by the President’s occupation of Ukraine. Vladimir Putinis Russia. Kantar TNS interviewed 501 people, about half the normal number, by telephone from 28 February to 3 March.
The margin of error for the results is thus 4.5 percentage points instead of 3.1 points.
“We should not worry about the margin of error. The result gives a reliable indication of the overall result and the change in Finnish views. Sakari NurminenKantar TNS’s research director commented on Helsingin Sanomat on Friday.
โWe have wanted to use telephone interviews for the survey because we have a remarkably long time series of NATO insights that have been collected in a certain way. It confirms that the change in views is not due to technical methodological factors. You can be confident that Finns’ views on NATO have changed quite a lot.
YLE on Thursday reported that almost four-fifths (79%) of Finns consider Russia’s development a threat to Finland. More than one in ten respondents (11%) said they were not worried about progress, while 10% said they could not say one way or the other.
The survey found no significant differences in respondents’ views by gender or political orientation.
Political scientists pointed out to the broadcaster that the results are hardly surprising in light of the military offensive against Ukraine. Tuomas ForsbergThe director of the Helsinki College of Researchers added that the crisis may also have given people the freedom to express their views on Russia.
“There is no longer a need for such modesty that Russia could not be said to be a threat,” he explained.
Johanna VuorelmaA researcher at the University of Helsinki said that Finns no longer seem to have broad-based confidence in Russia. “The readings are very high. The impression that Russia is unreliable is very strongly shared. It cannot be said that there are two more camps, as has been shown in the past when it comes to approaches to Russia.
The Economic Survey interviewed 1,382 people on 23-25. February.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
Source: The Nordic Page