Poles Hold Most Favourable View of US, Finds International Study

By Daniel Tilles, Notes from Poland | 29 June 2023

Poland has the most favourable views of the United States on a range of measures among 23 countries across six continents surveyed by the Pew Research Center.

Ninety-three percent of Poles say they hold a favourable view of the US, which was the highest among all countries, followed by Israel (87%), South Korea (79%) and Nigeria (74%). In Europe, the highest figures apart from Poland’s were recorded in Italy (60%) and the United Kingdom (59%).

Meanwhile, only 4% of Poles hold a negative view of the US, by far the lowest figure among all countries. The strongest negative views were found in Hungary (51%), Australia (47%) and France and Sweden (both 41%).

Poland’s 93% positive figure was also the highest ever recorded in the country by Pew since it started conducting such surveys in 2000. The lowest level, 61%, was found in 2007.

Likewise, the proportion of Poles who have confidence in President Joe Biden’s leadership, 83%, was the highest ever recorded in Poland for any US and the highest this year among all countries surveyed.

Meanwhile, 67% of Poles say that the US takes into account the interests of countries such as theirs when making decisions, again the highest figure ever found. In this case, however, it was lower than in four other countries: Israel (80%), India and Kenya (both 72%), and Nigeria (72%).

A large majority of Poles, 85%, also say that the US contributes to peace and stability – again the highest figure among all 23 countries. And 59% say that the US is a more democratic society than other wealthy nations, a figure second only to Israel (64%).

Pew’s findings come after the relationship between the US and Poland, which was already strong under both Trump and Biden, became even closer following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Last year, Biden announced that the US would establish a permanent military base in Poland, its first ever on NATO’s eastern flank, and visited the country twice within a span of one year. Poland has also completed a series of large arms deals with the US, while a number of American firms have announced major investments in Poland.

Pew’s findings echo other surveys showing strongly positive feelings among Poles towards the United States, its leaders and its people.

This year, Polish state research agency CBOS found that 93% of Poles hold positive views of Americans, up ten percentage points from 2022 and the highest level among all national and ethnic groups.