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Germany’s elites have been doing their worst to antagonize Russians, and Russians have taken note

They probably won’t but Germans should pay close attention to a recent news item out of Russia: The Levada polling institute – long internationally acknowledged as serious and dependable – has published the result of a recent survey. It shows that Germany is now considered peak hostile by ordinary Russians: 55 percent of them name Germany as the country most unfriendly toward Russia.

Five years ago, that figure stood at 40 percent. That was no small number either, but two things stand out now: First, the rapid increase in Germany’s un-favorability rating and, second, the fact that Berlin has managed to take over the top position in this dismal ranking: For twenty years it was securely held by the US, which still came in at a whopping 76 percent as recently as last year.