Bulgarians are the biggest supporters of Russia in Europe, with 88% of them being favorably inclined towards the country, according to the Transatlantic Trends 2011 survey released Wednesday.
Russia also enjoys a particularly high approval rate in the Netherlands, which ranks second on the list with 61%.
The average EU approval for Russia stands at 50%.
The lowest percentage of negative attitude towards Russia, 10%, is in Bulgaria.
Second in the negative ranking is the UK, where 1/3rd of the population are critical towards the country.
In the meantime, Bulgarians, together with Romanians, are the biggest EU optimists, scoring approval rates of 90% and 87%, respectively.
The two countries are also the least critical of the EU, with Bulgaria reporting a stable 8-9% negative trend, while Romania diminishes oppositional attitudes from 17% to 12%.
As regards Turkey, the number of people for and against the country is very similar, 47% and 46%, respectively.
The biggest opponents of Turkey in Europe are the Dutch, 60% of which hold negative attitudes towards the country, as opposed to 16% being favorably inclined.