While the existence of NATO is seen as a deterrent to Russia expanding its war effort to the countries bordering Ukraine, the military alliance is not unilaterally seen as a net positive. As our chart based on data from Pew Research Center shows, respondents from only seven out of 11 surveyed NATO member states have a favorable opinion of the security pact.

For example, 93 percent of respondents in Poland claimed they view NATO in a favorable light. The country bore the brunt of border crossings by Ukrainian refugees since the start of the war and directly neighbors the Eastern European country. Some of the biggest economies in the world, among them the United Kingdom, Germany, and the United States, also see NATO as a net positive. In France, Hungary, Spain and Greece respondents are more on the fence about the military pact, with a majority of Greek respondents having a somewhat or very unfavorable opinion of the security alliance. In Sweden, the country next in line for NATO membership, 78 percent of survey participants saw NATO as favorable.

Founded in 1949 by Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States as a counterpart to the USSR, the alliance’s eastward expansion beginning in 1999 with the accession of the former Warsaw Pact Countries Czechia, Hungary and Poland has been controversially discussed. While some see it as a necessary bulwark against Russia and China, others view it as encroaching on the sovereignty of Russia.

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