In the Gallup survey, respondents were asked whether they approved or disapproved of the leaders of the US, China, Russia, the EU and Germany.

 

The Russian leadership received the lowest approval among the 21 countries polled, with only 22% approving of Putin,  a drop of 10%  since the last poll in 2013. 

 

Putin got the highest approval ratings in the post-Soviet states. The strongest disapproval of Russian leadership was in Western countries, with Norway heading the list followed by the Netherlands and Finland.

 

“A contributing factor is probably Russia’s significant military activity in 2014 that was also tied to Norway and the Baltic states.” Geir Flikke, a Russia expert at Oslo University told Aftenposten. 

 

Flikke says that Norwegians have come to expect co-operation from Russia and that recent events are a break with the past.

 

“Russia's behaviour in 2014 clashes strongly with that expectation and may have led to a pendulum effect.” He said, adding that Finland and Sweden show a similar pattern.