The bet by the Gauls on Eurobonds improves the Spaniards' rating of the country, according to the latest barometer published by the Real Instituto Elcano

France surpasses Germany as Spain's preferred ally in the European Union

PHOTO/AP - European Parliament in Strasbourg

France surpasses Germany as the Spanish's preferred ally in the European Union. The bet made by the Gauls on Eurobonds to issue debt jointly between the countries of the European Union and the refusal of Germany and the Netherlands to accept this solution to the coronavirus health crisis has unseated the Germans from the position of leadership in which Spain placed them, according to the latest barometer of the Real Instituto Elcano published on Thursday in an online session.  

The document is based on 1,000 telephone interviews conducted in the 17 regions and two autonomous cities of Spain between 2 and 19 March. Although only 69 of the surveys were carried out after the state of alarm was declared in Spain, the survey's authors believe that concern about the COVID-19 pandemic was already among Spaniards and that it has influenced their answers.  

Germany and France had traditionally occupied the top positions, when Spaniards were asked who should exercise leadership in the EU, although Berlin had always occupied the first position, a good distance from Paris. The coronavirus has changed this tendency and France is now the favourite of the Spanish. "France's positioning alongside Spain and Italy in its proposals for a joint economic response to the refusal of Germany and the Netherlands is the key that explains this result," said Carmen González, political scientist and researcher at the Real Instituto Elcano. 

Another consequence of the coronavirus, identified by the survey presented on Thursday, is a general increase in the rating of Spanish people in all countries. "This may be due to the empathy that human beings can feel for our fellow men" explained González, who pointed out as a surprise the situation in China, the origin of the transmission of the virus to human beings. "Its prestige has not been affected among the Spanish, in fact, it has improved. Their gestures of solidarity towards Spain and the sending of medical material explain this result", the political scientist has pointed out.  

Despite the positive image, the perception of China as a threat has increased among Spaniards, according to the experts who have prepared the document. The fear of contagion of diseases from citizens coming from the Asian giant figures as the second source of threat. "It is not true that this health crisis is helping China to improve its international image. The Spanish perceive the country as a necessary partner because it is the main supplier of medical material. There are few alternatives on the market to provide themselves. China is the factory of the world", said Mario Esteban, researcher at the Elcano Institute specialized in sinology.  

Consejo de Seguridad de la OTAN

The Spanish also point out that the commercial war between the United States and China is a threat to the country, and that element weighs much more than being a country where diseases originate. The participants also responded that Russia could be a threat to Spain's economic interests. With regard to war conflicts, the main cause for concern among Spaniards is political instability in the Middle East, civil war in Libya or North Korea's foreign policy. In the case of Morocco, the first cause for concern is irregular immigration, followed by commercial competition. The question on the causes of threat has been asked only to those who had previously evaluated with a score above 3 the degree of threat that this country could pose to Spain. Only the answers that exceed 2% of comments for each country were included. 

Disinterest in foreign and international policy 

Both in this survey and in other previous ones carried out by the Real Instituto Elcano and in other older ones carried out by the INCIPE (Instituto de Cuestiones Internacionales y Política Exterior), a scarce rating of Spaniards is shown with regard to foreign policy and national defence, which coexists with a very high rating of the military. European defence and foreign policies are the least valued and, in general, Spaniards do not show preference for investing time in them.  

Nor do Spaniards show any interest in what is happening in the domestic policy of other countries. Seventy-five per cent of those interviewed said that they were not interested in American political life at all. 70% do not remember the name of any democratic candidate for the presidency of the United States. Only 27% know that this year's presidential elections will be held, despite the fact that the American Democratic primary has been in the media every day.  

Regarding Venezuela, those interviewed are almost equally divided on whether Spain should intervene in any way in the country's internal conflict. As for Russia, only 20% of those interviewed know that the European Union's relations with this country are bad and the vast majority are unaware of the cause of the sanctions that the EU has imposed on it. Only 12% mention Crimea or Ukraine when asked about sanctions. Despite this, 56% believe that they should be maintained.