The closer to Russia the greater the fear, opinion poll finds

Linus Terhorst, a military sciences researcher at the London-based Royal United Services Institute, said the split on how Russia is viewed is rooted in both geography and history. Countries like Poland and Lithuania border Russia and were part of Moscow's empire during the Cold War, while Denmark controls a maritime passage of key importance to Russia. "If you look at how European societies discussed defense spending during the Cold War, you'll see similar splits, with countries like Spain being fairly unbothered, and support increas[ing] the further east you went," he said.