Europeans believe that sanctions hurt EU more than Russia

 Some 53 per cent of European Union (EU) citizens believe that anti-Russian sanctions have harmed both the European and Russian economies.

Some 37 per cent of respondents are convinced that restrictions harm the EU more, while 10 per cent said that Russia suffered the most from the sanctions, according to a survey by the Budapest research center Szazadveg.

The survey was conducted from October 13 to December 7 and attended by at least 1,000 people from each EU country.

The damage to the EU was mainly mentioned by the residents of Greece (55 per cent), Cyprus (54 per cent), Hungary (52 per cent). The least supporters of this point of view are in Denmark (19 per cent), Finland (20 per cent), Estonia and Poland (both 24 per cent). As the researchers note, according to European public opinion, initial expectations regarding the harm of sanctions on Russia have not been met.

The survey showed that 72 per cent of EU citizens expect a recession in 2023. 23 per cent of respondents named a decline in economic indicators as a problem. The share of those who believe that recession next year can be avoided is on average only 5 per cent in the EU. The lowest share is in Italy, Portugal, and Sweden (4 per cent in all three countries).