The upcoming schism of Europe because of the war in Ukraine A survey of the European Council on International Relations (ECFR), which revealed the differences in the views of Europeans in the war in Ukraine and the prospects for its end, caused a significant resonance. Meanwhile, as often happens, the interpretation of data and the conclusions themselves, which are made by ECFR experts Ivan Krastev and Mark Leonard, turned out to be somewhat displaced in this discussion.

Russians’ economic optimism hit record highs in May Economic optimism is at an all-time high among the Russian population despite sanctions and the economy contracting. The percentage of “economic optimists” rose to 34–35% in April and May 2022, overtaking the number of “economic pessimists” for the first time on record. According to data from FOM , the average number of optimists was 24% through 2020 and 2021.

Russian entrepreneurs are optimistic - despite the fact that every fifth representative of small and medium-sized businesses believes that sales volumes this year will decrease by more than a quarter, according to the report of the NAFI Analytical Center “ Business in New Conditions ” summarizing several waves of surveys of entrepreneurs. By April, the number of entrepreneurs who positively assessed their financial situation returned to the levels at the beginning of the year (34–36%).

The economic optimism of Russians reached historical peaks in May Against the background of the reduction in the Russian economy and sanctions, the economic optimism of the population is at the maximum. The share of “economic optimists” in April and May 2022 exceeded the share of “economic pessimists” for the first time in all the available observation time and amounted to 34–35% - with an average value of 24% in 2020–2021, the FOM monitoring data .