Unhappy with the way they are being treated by the European Union, part of a Troika of international lenders ordering harsh austerity measures in return for $325 billion in two bailouts, Greeks want their government to look elsewhere for aid, primarily from China, the U.S. and Russia, a survey showed.
After three years of pay cuts, tax hikes, slashed pensions and the coming firing of scores of thousands of public workers – and unrelenting pressure from the EU-International Monetary Fund-European Central Bank, Greeks are showing an increasing preference towards non-EU countries, according to the survey carried out by Kappa Research firm for Greek newspaper To Vima (The Tribune).
Given the present political and economic circumstances, 48.2 percent of respondents said that Greece should develop closer relations with Russia with investment opportunities, while 45.9 percent favored closer ties with China and 40.7 percent with the U.S. The United Arab Emirates rank fourth with 12.6 percent; Germany follows with 11.6 percent and France with 10.4 percent.
According to the survey, France is still considered the friendliest country to Greece with 72 percent of Greeks approving. Russia follows with 68 percent, China with 60.1 percent and the U.S. with 56.5, while Greeks have the most negative opinion of Germany with only 33.2 percent believing the Germans are allies, and only 21.8 percent favored Turkey.
In 2010 the ratings were 83.9 for France, 54.7 for Russia, 36.5 for China and 31 for the U.S. The survey was conducted from Aug. 9-13 with a sample of 857 respondents.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
