MOSCOW, April 21. /TASS/. Canadians have become disillusioned with the nature of their relations with Washington and want to diversify their ties by strengthening cooperation with the European Union, Maria Solyanova, Candidate of Political Sciences, research fellow at the Sector for US Foreign and Domestic Policy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said in a column she contributed to TASS.
The analyst quoted recent polls as saying that about 57% of Canadians either support or somewhat support the idea of joining the EU as a full member. At the same time, 84% are in favor of strengthening economic and trade ties with Europe.
"When Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney talks about the need to 'diversify partnerships,' and polls show growing sympathy for Europe, it becomes clear that the country is looking for a new balance in a world where the American leadership has ceased to seem unshakable," she said.
According to Solyanova, a year ago, Canadians "would most likely have perceived the issue of an EU membership as absurd, but now more than half of the country's population is ready for a serious conversation." She explained that support for the idea of European rapprochement has become, in fact, "an indirect indicator of disappointment in the American leadership model, which is increasingly associated with chaos and unilateral dictate.
