Only 30% of the Bulgarians think that the world needs a strong US leadership, and only 24% expect US President Barack Obama to bring significant change.

This is revealed by the Transatlantic Trends 2009 survey of the German Marschall Fund conducted in June 2009 in the USA and 12 European states including Turkey. It surveys people's attitude towards the US, American President Obama, Russia's foreign policies, the military intervention in Afghanistan, the effects of the economic crisis, and fighting climate change.

The survey reveals also that only 40% of the Bulgarians are concerned about Russia's policies towards its European neighbors; this is the smalled percentage of all surveyed European nations. The average percentage on this question in Eastern European states is 63%.

Only 6% of the Bulgarians - the least percentage compared to all other states in the survey - have shown enthusiasm for sending troops to Afghanistan, and half of them want the withdrawal of the Bulgarian contingent there.

Less than half of all Bulgarians are "very concerned" about climate change; 82% of them - the highest of all other surveyed states - believe that firms rather than individuals are obliged to fight the negative impact of human activities on climate.

Only 7% of the Bulgarian respondents think that their government spent too much state funds on fighting the impact of the economic crisis. About three-fourths of all Bulgarians said the crisis hit their household budget, compared to a little over 50% for the other European states.

The Transatlantic Trends 2009 survey also shows that Obama's approval rating is higher in Europe - 77% - than at home - 57%; it is also higher in Western Europe - 86% - than in the East - 60%

Most of the Europeans are found to have a positive attitude towards the USA - 63% in Western Europe, and 53% in Eastern Europe.