Nordmenns syn på Russland, russere og norsk russlandspolitikk: Betydningen av nærhet til grensen

Abstract

On 24 February 2022, Russia went to full-scale war against Ukraine with major consequences – primarily for Ukraine, but also for the rest of Europe and the world. As a consequence of the war in Ukraine, Norwegian-Russian bilateral relations have deteriorated significantly. Against this backdrop, the article presents and discusses Norwegians’ attitudes towards Russia, Russians, and Norwegian policy towards Russia based on a nationwide representative survey conducted in December 2022. The myth of significant differences between people in Northern and Southern Norway in their attitudes towards Russia is rejected. However, the results reveal certain differences in attitudes between, on one hand, people in East Finnmark, where contact with Russians and Russia has been closest, and people in Northern Norway and the rest of the country on the other. The vast majority of Norwegians, regardless of geography, socio-economic status, and party-political affiliation, are highly critical of policies promoted by official Russia but sharply distinguish between the regime and ordinary Russians.

Keywords

• spørreundersøkelse
• russlandspolitikk
• Norge
• Øst-Finnmark
• Nord-Norge
• holdninger