Values of the United States in the eyes of Central and Eastern Europe

Only 1 in 4 people in Central and Eastern Europe identify with the values of the United States of America, according to the results of our opinion polls collected in the spring of 2019. Moreover, in some countries, a significant number of people consider the United States to be a significant threat – percentages are the highest in Austria (29%) and Slovakia (41%).

These findings might come as a surprise, especially as the identification with the values of the EU are twice as high and might be a reflection of the weakening of the transatlantic bond.

While the broad approach to values does not allow us to identify causes and factors and more in-depth analysis is needed, a socio-demographic analysis of the data allows us to better understand where to look and what to look for.

Key findings:

• In Austria, Bulgaria, Czechia and Slovakia, young people are generally more pro-US than their older co-citizens.
• The level of education plays no role in the degree of identification with US values, except for Czechia. In Czechia, only 22% of those with elementary education identify with US values, compared to 44% of those with university education.
• In Austria, Czechia, Hungary and Romania, stronger identification with US values was identified in capital cities compared to other regions in each country.
• In Slovakia, Czechia and Bulgaria, stronger identification with US values was observed among NATO and EU supporters.
• 30% of Poles and Austrians identify both with EU and US values.

Read more in the short report below!