Poll: Faroese public’s reactions to the war

The war in Ukraine is causing great concern across the world. A new poll looks at how Faroese people feel about the situation

Churches across the country have held prayer services for the Ukrainian people. The photos in this article, courtesy of Bjarni Árting Rubeksen, are from Wednesday’s solidarity gathering outside the Houses of Parliament in Tórshavn

John Johannessen

04.03.2022 - 09:50

A new spyr.fo poll of 500 randomly selected members of the Faroese public has gathered views and opinions about the war in Ukraine.

To the question “Are you worried about the situation in Ukraine”, 12.8 percent of respondents said they were very worried, 44.4 percent said: “I worry”, 26.8 percent said: “I am somewhat worried”, 9.2 percent said: “I am not really worried” and 6.8 percent said there were not at all worried.

Myndareportasja: samkensla við Ukraina

The poll suggests the following causes of worry (respondents could pick more than one option): “the fighting might spread beyond Ukraine” – 61 percent, “the impact on the people in Ukraine” – 56 percent, “the risk of nuclear warfare” – 33 percent, “World War 3” – 29 percent, “the economic impact of the war” – 27 percent and “other” – 4 percent.

The poll indicates, in general, that male respondents primarily worry about the economic consequences of the war, while female respondents tend to worry more about humanitarian issues.

Myndareportasja: samkensla við Ukraina

Asked about what people’s primary news sources were during the war (respondents could pick more than one option), 56 percent said “international TV news stations”, 47 percent said “Kringvarp Føroya”, 28 percent said they “actively searched for international news coverage online”, 15 percent said they tried to limit their news consumption, while 3 percent said they are not keeping up with the news about the war.

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Myndareportasja: samkensla við Ukraina

Respondents were also asked how they talked to their children about the situation.

About 36 percent said: “We reassure them that they are safe here in the Faroes.” 33 percent said: “We watch the news together with our children and talk to them about it.” 24 percent said they talked as little as possible with their children about it. 17 percent said they did what they could to limit their children’s exposure to the news. 11 percent of parents said they openly share their own war-related concerns with their children.

Read the Faroese version of this article here.

More Faroese News in English.