CBOS: 68 percent of Poles support sanctions

According to a poll conducted by CBOS (Public Opinon Research Center) almost half of Poles believe that the EU’s current sanctions against Russia are too small in scale. About 22 percent believe that they are appropriate in scale. The poll, conducted on June 11-14 on a random sample of 1,011, asked Poles to judge both the scale and effectiveness of the sanctions against Russia.

In the last poll conducted on this subject (September 2014), 55 percent of respondents believed that the sanctions were too small, while 7 percent believed they should be scaled back.

The majority of respondents support the EU’s extension of sanctions (68 percent), with 11 percent against, and 20 percent neutral. Respondents from large urban areas, and those with higher degrees, are overwhelmingly supportive of the sanctions (88 percent) as are right wing supporters (81 percent). Respondents from these groups were also the most likely to consider the sanctions to be too limited.

The CBOS poll also shows that faith in the efficacy of the extended sanctions has risen. Last year, only 20 percent believed that they could dissuade Russia from continued aggression in Ukraine. Now, almost half (44 percent) believe that sanctions will prove to be an effective tactic, and that their extension will prevent Russia from intervening directly on Ukrainian soil.

Poles are still actively following developments in Ukraine. 69 percent of respondents expressed interest in following events in Ukraine, with 16 percent interested to some degree, and 14 percent showing no interest. 67 percent of Poles are still worried about Russian aggression in the Donbass and the security threats it poses for Poland.