LONDON (Realist English). Most residents of the states of the Middle East and North Africa do not really care about the conflict on the territory of the former Ukraine. This is indicated by the results of the Arab News-YouGov survey.
The survey was carried out among 7,835 people across 14 countries in the MENA region between April 26 and May 4.
Asked where they stand in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, 18 percent sided with Ukraine, and 16 percent with Russia.
But an overwhelming 66 percent of respondents answered with a collective shrug, opting to take “no stance” on the crisis — indifference that peaked in Jordan and Algeria (74 percent) and Saudi Arabia (71 percent).
“It does seem like it is taking place so far away.” said Abeer Etefa, the Cairo-based senior spokeswoman for the UN World Food Programme in the Middle East and North Africa.
The complexities of European history and politics aside, Richard Gowan, UN director of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, sees another reason for the apparent indifference of many Arabs to events in Ukraine.
“We are seeing a very big gap between how Americans and Europeans see this conflict, and how it’s viewed in other parts of the world.” he said.
