It's Not Just Bulgarians: Why Half the World Likes Putin

Nearly half of Bulgarians approve of Russia (at an EU average of about 10%), and more than 25% even approve of Putin's war, according to several surveys, the latest of which is from Eurobarometer. But this is clearly not a unique phenomenon. The West is indeed united against Putin, but in the rest of the world the picture is quite different, Lea Frehse and Xifan Yang wrote in an extensive article in the German media "Die Zeit". "The Western world is always looking at China, not paying attention to the countries located between the geopolitical poles, which declare themselves neutral or even show understanding for Moscow's actions", the authors claim, recalling that we're talking about 2/3 of the world's population. The article lists some significant facts:

"India, which will displace China as the world's most populous country in a few years' time, imports nearly twenty times more oil and gas from Russia than before the war. Indonesia, the world's third-largest democracy, invited Putin to the G20 summit in November. At the UN General Assembly in March, a number of countries, including Brazil, Israel, Turkey and South Africa, joined in condemning the Russian attack but did not join the sanctions against Moscow. Sudan's ruling military junta backs Putin while the democratic movement is in solidarity with Ukraine. The Indonesian government is trying to follow a middle course, while the majority of the population sympathizes with Vladimir Putin. Sometimes the current discussions in the global South even show satisfaction with the war in Europe: after decades of fueling and interfering in conflicts in the rest of the world, let the West now see what war at home means."

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