This latest survey on attitudes towards Finland among the Russian public found that 37 percent of Russians are positively disposed to Finland, down from 51 percent in 2022 and 68 percent in 2021.
The Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs has carried out country image surveys in Russia since 2017, asking Russians about their perceptions of Finland and about their views on relations between Finland and Russia. They are conducted at least every two years, with the previous survey taking place in 2022.
Among Muscovites, close to half, 48 percent, hold positive attitudes towards Finland, 40 percent hold negative attitudes and 12 percent were unable to give an opinion.
Younger Russians also have more positive attitudes than the average. In the youngest group of respondents in the 18–24 year age bracket, 54 percent still harbour a positive attitude towards Finland. Only 27 percent of Russians aged over 55 years felt the same way.
Nato Finland is seen as a threat
The survey further found that relations between Finland and Russia are perceived as cold, tense or hostile by 61 percent of respondents, compared to 51 percent in 2022.
Finland’s membership in Nato was considered a relatively serious threat to Russia by 36 percent, while 32 percent saw it as only a minor threat and 21 percent as no threat at all.
Forty percent of all respondents deemed that Finland’s accession to Nato has a negative impact on their perception of the country, while 55 percent felt it had no effect. However, only 58 percent of all respondents were certain that Finland is now a member of Nato.
When the respondents were asked what in their opinion would further weaken relations between Finland and Russia, over half mentioned possible Nato bases in Finland, 15 percent said tighter EU sanctions against Russia and 10 percent stated long-term restrictions on border traffic.
Root causes
The Embassy of Finland in Moscow commissioned the survey from an independent research institute, the Levada Center. Altogether, 1,629 adult Russians from 141 population centres in 57 Russian regions responded to the survey in July 2023. The margin of error is 3.4 percent.
The Levada Center estimates that Finland’s decision to join Nato and its negative coverage in the Russian media may be the greatest reason for Russians’ hardening attitudes towards Finland.
Russia’s war in Ukraine and the ensuing rise in anti-western attitudes in Russia can be seen as the root cause for the change, according to the Levada Center. While Finland’s decision to restrict the granting of visas and entry to Russians has had a less strong impact on attitudes across Russia, the Levada Center estimates that the restrictions may have affected attitudes much more in northwest Russia close to Finland’s border.
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