According to an American study, Angela Merkel enjoys great confidence around the world

FifthBefore her supposed last visit to Washington as chancellor, there was great confidence in Angela Merkel and her foreign policy around the world. This is the The result of a study conducted by the famous Pew Institute in Washington in 17 countries. Accordingly, 77% of those surveyed said they trust Merkel was doing the right thing in international affairs. This means that confidence in Merkel in these countries is higher than that of US President Joe Biden, who scored just 74 percent. In Germany, three-quarters (76%) of respondents said they trust Merkel’s foreign policy work – among Americans only 60% of Biden said so.

In Europe, the Dutch and Swedes (90% approval each) have more confidence in Merkel’s abilities as an international crisis manager than the Germans, followed by the Spaniards (86%), Belgians (83%) and the French (82%). ). In Italy (74 percent) and the UK (72 percent) as well, the vast majority of respondents trust Merkel’s foreign policy – the situation is quite different in Greece: with only 30 percent agreeing, confidence in Merkel is much weaker than there. in other countries.

In Germany, the evaluation is more divided

What can also be noted: In ten of the 14 countries where long-term data is available, confidence in Merkel has increased significantly since the last poll and is now at a record level. Trust in the chancellor in Italy has increased by 24 points, to 74 percent, since the summer of 2020. According to the study, confidence in Merkel’s foreign policy has also grown in Spain (plus 14 percentage points), Greece (plus eight), South Korea, Japan (plus six) and Sweden ( plus three percentage points).

In the United States, six in ten Americans (63 percent) said they trust Merkel’s foreign policy — even though approval depends on party preference. Among Democrats and their loved ones, 76 percent said so; And between Republicans and Republicans, it was only 49 percent.

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Most respondents also rated Merkel’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic in Germany as positive. In the study, an average of 61 percent said Germany had handled the pandemic well — the highest rating of all countries and organizations, including the United States, China and the European Union. However, the assessment in Germany is more divided: Only 51 percent of those surveyed praised Merkel’s handling of the pandemic, with 49 percent even calling it poor.

Meanwhile, the percentage of Germans who see the United States as Germany’s most important international political partner has increased significantly. While only 10% of Germans surveyed answered yes to the question in a September 2020 Pew study, that number doubled after Joe Biden was elected – to 23%. In September 2020, only ten percent of Americans stated that Germany was the most important partner to the United States – at 27 percent, the United Kingdom was far ahead of China (14 percent) and Israel (like Germany at ten percent). So far there is no more recent data on this topic.