Estonians place greatest hope in US military assistance among European countries

Among European countries, Estonia has the strongest support for the view that, in the event of war, the country should also rely on assistance from the United States, according to a survey conducted in June.
According to a survey by the British research firm Public First, 22 percent of Estonians believe that, if the country came under military attack, it would be acceptable to receive support from a power outside Europe. In practice, that would mean military assistance from the United States, Politico, which reported on the survey findings, noted.
Across the 24 European countries surveyed, the average response to that question was 14 percent.
Estonia also had one of the lowest levels of support for the view that the country should defend itself on its own in the event of an attack. While an average of 33 percent across Europe held that view, the figure in Estonia, matching Sweden, was 28 percent.
Only Denmark (17 percent), Slovenia (23 percent), Belgium (25 percent) and the Netherlands (26 percent) recorded lower shares of respondents who believed their country should rely solely on itself.
In Estonia, 41 percent of respondents, compared with a European average of 40 percent, said military assistance should come from Europe, but not from outside the continent.
Politico also highlighted that, according to the survey, the largest shares of people who doubted their country's ability to defend itself without outside assistance were found in countries bordering Russia, such as the Baltic states, Romania and Bulgaria, as well as in other smaller European countries.
The survey found that 61 percent of Estonians believed their country was not prepared to defend itself on its own.
Across Europe, an average of 58 percent of respondents said their country was not capable of defending itself on its own, while only 27 percent believed that it was.
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Editor: Marcus Turovski, Mait Ots
Source: Politico












