A survey conducted for Sputnik by Ifop among residents of Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom showed what Europeans think about the 2001 Afghan campaign and the current situation after the country came under the control of the Taliban.
Poll Results
© Sputnik
According to the poll, almost half of Germans (49%), about a third of French (34%) and Italians (36%), 40% of Britons, and 41% of Spaniards consider the decision to invade Afghanistan in 2001 a mistake.
At the same time, many respondents emphasised that they thought worse of the US after Washington decided to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan: this sentiment was backed by 35% of French, 41% of Germans, 43% in the UK, 47% in Spain, and 53% of Italians.
More than half of the surveyed Europeans said that the US withdrawal had resulted in a deterioration of global security: this was the opinion of 50% of French respondents, 53% of Britons, 54% of Spanish, 60% of Italians, and 63% of Germans.
As for who should accommodate the new wave of Afghan refugees, many respondents said European countries should do so - but even more said that the US should take responsibility and accept them: it was 46% vs 63% in France, 58% vs 73% in Germany, 67% vs 75% in the UK, 73% vs 82% in Italy, and 80% vs 85% in Spain.
*The Taliban is a terror group banned in Russia and many other countries.