**Yle’s survey: Almost 80 percent of Finns see Russia as a threat – according to the researcher, there is no longer any reason for shyness in Finland**
*The attitude of Finns towards the threat posed by Russia has sharpened significantly. According to the researchers, the result is completely expected.*
A significant part of Finns see Russia as a threat to Finland.
In connection with a NATO support survey published by Yle on Monday , the Economic Survey also asked Finns what they thought about the threat posed by the situation in Russia. According to the survey, 79 percent of respondents consider Russia’s development to be a threat to Finland.
11% of respondents said they were not worried about the situation. Ten percent could not say their position.
Women and men perceive the Russian threat as equally great. There are also no significant differences in attitudes between supporters of the largest parliamentary parties.
There is some difference in attitudes between age groups. As many as 86 per cent of those aged 35-49 see the situation in Russia as a threat, and 73 per cent of those aged 18-24.
Of the parties voted in Parliament, supporters of the Coalition Party (85%) perceive the greatest threat to Russia, while supporters of the Left Alliance (72%) perceive the threat the least.
The collection of survey data began on Wednesday, February 23, the day before the Russian invasion.
>This is how the survey was conducted
>The survey commissioned by Yle Economic Research was conducted on the Internet panel from 23 February to 25 February 2022.
>1382 respondents aged 18–80 responded to the survey.
>The results were weighted according to age, gender and place of residence to correspond to the population statistics.
>The margin of error for the survey is 2.5 percentage points in its direction.
**Researcher: No more reason for shyness**
According to political scientists, the current attitude of Finns towards Russia is well-expected after Russia invaded Ukraine last week.
At the end of last year, the Taloustutkimus examined Finns’ biggest concerns. At the time, 15 percent of respondents felt the military threat posed by Russia was a matter of concern.
Also at the end of last year, according to a survey by Ilta-Sanomat, 45 per cent of Finns felt that the threat posed by Russia to Finland had increased.
The studies are not completely comparable, but they give an indication of how quickly attitudes towards the situation in Russia have changed in Finland.
According to Tuomas Forsberg, Director of the Research Council of the University of Helsinki, the latest result also shows that with the crisis situation, people are less discretionary about voicing their opinions on Russia.
– There is no longer a reason for such coyness in Finland that Russia couldn’t be said to be a threat, Forsberg says.
Postdoctoral researcher Johanna Vuorelma from the University of Helsinki sees that Finns no longer have much confidence in Russia. Those who have been more favorable to Russia in the past also seem to have changed their position.
– The number is extremely high. The image of Russia as unreliable is strongly shared. It cannot be said that there would be two opposing views anymore, as has been the case earlier regarding the attitudes towards Russia, Vuorelma ponders.
Putin: Finland are full nazi too
Bring it bitch, you better scramble like an egg before you get folded like an omelette.
Have 20% of Finns been chilling in a cave this past week?
That tends to happen when people get threatened. Putin is doing a great job of uniting europeans… Germany and France have been trying to years. Putin comes in and does it in the span of a week. Finland and Sweden citizens now even favor joining NATO too now by a small margin but still.
Oh, I wonder why that’s case.
Nothing will happen to Finland now.
But if Trump returns as President, Putin will invade and take Finland.
This is where a lot of American coverage misses the mark – there’s a world outside Washington & Moscow and there are like, countries with their own ideas there
What’s wrong with the other 15%?
I’ve noted how much quieter FB is these days in the states since the sanctions started and funding got cut off. Russian propaganda is superbly effective amongst the ruble collecting rabble rousers.
Russia is a threat to everyone because they always want to rebuild their empire and make slaves from european nations. If you studied history, you should know that the Russian Empire and the USSR have always been bloody creations.
In a strange way: after the meat grinder that Ukraine is now putting Putin’s army through, you could very well argue that Russia is now actually *less* of a threat.
I have to think that this week, Putin/Russia, will go down as one of the most iconic moments of the century.
It kind of feels like Russia’s Suez crisis, realising that at best they’re a regional power with nukes. Ignoring all the obvious irony in the situation (Ukraine giving them heavy losses, pushing Finland/Sweden to NATO, strengthening EU+NATO, UA applying for EU membership, the decline of Russian economy so quick, Germany re-arming).
Even bigger irony is, if Russia had stopped doing this kind of shit in the 90’s, they could have been the superpower they wanted to be – easily the largest economy in Europe, more so if the wealth passed onto EAEU and former USSR countries.
Alas, stupidity, at every angle.
What about a poll asking russians now ?
So if i undertand correctly there might come a vote to join NATO? Sweden will probably have similar attitude.
Well done VP. Your shit of a plan was a great success for the security of Russia…
As a finn, I can confirm. Can’t help but constantly think that how long till it’s our turn.
Just 15% before? Were they crazy?
I really wonder how other parts of the world, experienced the 1980-1990..
In West- Europe we had bomb alerts almost every weekend by one ot another terrorist group. Also the A-bomb threat was felt very strongly i believe. Nena 99 luftballons original version..
after a while nobody really cares to munch from alarms anymore. You get tired of being worried.
Once again confirming that 80/20 rule is universal.
Somewhere in Finland is a young man that is cleaning his rifle and dreaming of sniping.
So it seems the strategical thinking of a former KGB agent can only take him so far… Probably he thought all the neighbours will wait for Russia with flowers (and the white flag).
We just needed a little…demonstration of what Putin is willing to do
I’m actually surprised it was only 15%. I would have expected it to be a bit higher, even back then.
Curious what the other 20% think.
Assuming we don’t all perish in a nuclear winter in the next 6 months, I think Putin would need to have a statue built for him in Brussels as “The Great European Unifier”.
Before his most recent adventure, NATO was “outdated”, the EU was split between East and West, German soldiers were training with brooms and opposition to NS2 and Russian geopolitical interests was “paranoia”.
Before the year is over, NATO will be crucial again, the EU will be looking to gain one new member, maybe more, there’ll be renewed drive to move to non-fossil fuels, and Russia will be more decrepit and isolated than ever before.
I’m not saying that a top-ranking Russian General should put 2 bullets in the back of Putin’s head to save us a bunch of unnecessary death and destruction, I’m just saying….yeah…..it’s a really solid idea. We’ll even pretend to buy the official “Vladimir Vladimirovich had an unexpected heart attack” version and work with them to rebuild Ukraine.
Who are these other smooth brained 20% that disagree?
And the other 20%?
Time to release the White Death
Brit here, I’m so curious why this number was so small previously. I understand why Finns wanted to remain as neutral as possible but why was Russia not seen as a threat ? any Finns care to share their thoughts with me it would be appreciated.
30 comments
English translation:
**Yle’s survey: Almost 80 percent of Finns see Russia as a threat – according to the researcher, there is no longer any reason for shyness in Finland**
*The attitude of Finns towards the threat posed by Russia has sharpened significantly. According to the researchers, the result is completely expected.*
A significant part of Finns see Russia as a threat to Finland.
In connection with a NATO support survey published by Yle on Monday , the Economic Survey also asked Finns what they thought about the threat posed by the situation in Russia. According to the survey, 79 percent of respondents consider Russia’s development to be a threat to Finland.
11% of respondents said they were not worried about the situation. Ten percent could not say their position.
Women and men perceive the Russian threat as equally great. There are also no significant differences in attitudes between supporters of the largest parliamentary parties.
There is some difference in attitudes between age groups. As many as 86 per cent of those aged 35-49 see the situation in Russia as a threat, and 73 per cent of those aged 18-24.
Of the parties voted in Parliament, supporters of the Coalition Party (85%) perceive the greatest threat to Russia, while supporters of the Left Alliance (72%) perceive the threat the least.
The collection of survey data began on Wednesday, February 23, the day before the Russian invasion.
>This is how the survey was conducted
>The survey commissioned by Yle Economic Research was conducted on the Internet panel from 23 February to 25 February 2022.
>1382 respondents aged 18–80 responded to the survey.
>The results were weighted according to age, gender and place of residence to correspond to the population statistics.
>The margin of error for the survey is 2.5 percentage points in its direction.
**Researcher: No more reason for shyness**
According to political scientists, the current attitude of Finns towards Russia is well-expected after Russia invaded Ukraine last week.
At the end of last year, the Taloustutkimus examined Finns’ biggest concerns. At the time, 15 percent of respondents felt the military threat posed by Russia was a matter of concern.
Also at the end of last year, according to a survey by Ilta-Sanomat, 45 per cent of Finns felt that the threat posed by Russia to Finland had increased.
The studies are not completely comparable, but they give an indication of how quickly attitudes towards the situation in Russia have changed in Finland.
According to Tuomas Forsberg, Director of the Research Council of the University of Helsinki, the latest result also shows that with the crisis situation, people are less discretionary about voicing their opinions on Russia.
– There is no longer a reason for such coyness in Finland that Russia couldn’t be said to be a threat, Forsberg says.
Postdoctoral researcher Johanna Vuorelma from the University of Helsinki sees that Finns no longer have much confidence in Russia. Those who have been more favorable to Russia in the past also seem to have changed their position.
– The number is extremely high. The image of Russia as unreliable is strongly shared. It cannot be said that there would be two opposing views anymore, as has been the case earlier regarding the attitudes towards Russia, Vuorelma ponders.
Putin: Finland are full nazi too
Bring it bitch, you better scramble like an egg before you get folded like an omelette.
[Russia warns of ‘military consequences’ if Finland and Sweden join Nato](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/02/25/russia-threatens-finland-sweden-joining-nato-ukraine-invasion/)
Have 20% of Finns been chilling in a cave this past week?
That tends to happen when people get threatened. Putin is doing a great job of uniting europeans… Germany and France have been trying to years. Putin comes in and does it in the span of a week. Finland and Sweden citizens now even favor joining NATO too now by a small margin but still.
Oh, I wonder why that’s case.
Nothing will happen to Finland now.
But if Trump returns as President, Putin will invade and take Finland.
This is where a lot of American coverage misses the mark – there’s a world outside Washington & Moscow and there are like, countries with their own ideas there
What’s wrong with the other 15%?
I’ve noted how much quieter FB is these days in the states since the sanctions started and funding got cut off. Russian propaganda is superbly effective amongst the ruble collecting rabble rousers.
Russia is a threat to everyone because they always want to rebuild their empire and make slaves from european nations. If you studied history, you should know that the Russian Empire and the USSR have always been bloody creations.
In a strange way: after the meat grinder that Ukraine is now putting Putin’s army through, you could very well argue that Russia is now actually *less* of a threat.
I have to think that this week, Putin/Russia, will go down as one of the most iconic moments of the century.
It kind of feels like Russia’s Suez crisis, realising that at best they’re a regional power with nukes. Ignoring all the obvious irony in the situation (Ukraine giving them heavy losses, pushing Finland/Sweden to NATO, strengthening EU+NATO, UA applying for EU membership, the decline of Russian economy so quick, Germany re-arming).
Even bigger irony is, if Russia had stopped doing this kind of shit in the 90’s, they could have been the superpower they wanted to be – easily the largest economy in Europe, more so if the wealth passed onto EAEU and former USSR countries.
Alas, stupidity, at every angle.
What about a poll asking russians now ?
So if i undertand correctly there might come a vote to join NATO? Sweden will probably have similar attitude.
Well done VP. Your shit of a plan was a great success for the security of Russia…
As a finn, I can confirm. Can’t help but constantly think that how long till it’s our turn.
Just 15% before? Were they crazy?
I really wonder how other parts of the world, experienced the 1980-1990..
In West- Europe we had bomb alerts almost every weekend by one ot another terrorist group. Also the A-bomb threat was felt very strongly i believe. Nena 99 luftballons original version..
after a while nobody really cares to munch from alarms anymore. You get tired of being worried.
Once again confirming that 80/20 rule is universal.
Somewhere in Finland is a young man that is cleaning his rifle and dreaming of sniping.
So it seems the strategical thinking of a former KGB agent can only take him so far… Probably he thought all the neighbours will wait for Russia with flowers (and the white flag).
We just needed a little…demonstration of what Putin is willing to do
I’m actually surprised it was only 15%. I would have expected it to be a bit higher, even back then.
Curious what the other 20% think.
Assuming we don’t all perish in a nuclear winter in the next 6 months, I think Putin would need to have a statue built for him in Brussels as “The Great European Unifier”.
Before his most recent adventure, NATO was “outdated”, the EU was split between East and West, German soldiers were training with brooms and opposition to NS2 and Russian geopolitical interests was “paranoia”.
Before the year is over, NATO will be crucial again, the EU will be looking to gain one new member, maybe more, there’ll be renewed drive to move to non-fossil fuels, and Russia will be more decrepit and isolated than ever before.
I’m not saying that a top-ranking Russian General should put 2 bullets in the back of Putin’s head to save us a bunch of unnecessary death and destruction, I’m just saying….yeah…..it’s a really solid idea. We’ll even pretend to buy the official “Vladimir Vladimirovich had an unexpected heart attack” version and work with them to rebuild Ukraine.
Who are these other smooth brained 20% that disagree?
And the other 20%?
Time to release the White Death
Brit here, I’m so curious why this number was so small previously. I understand why Finns wanted to remain as neutral as possible but why was Russia not seen as a threat ? any Finns care to share their thoughts with me it would be appreciated.