8 percent said in a survey that they believe Vladimir Putin is a very large threat to Norway.

The survey was conducted by Ipsos for Dagbladet. 1,000 people have responded to the question “To what extent is President Vladimir Putin and Russia a real security threat to Norway?”.

While 8 percent responded “very large extent” to this question, answer 37 percent answered “to a great extent.” 44 percent think the Russian president poses “small extent” of a threat to Norway. Only 3 percent answered “not at all”, while 7 percent say they do not know.

Several Norwegian experts say they are surprised that so many people are worried about Russia, but understands that the impression of Russia has become more negative.

– In the early 2000s, the press was more positive and optimistic about Russia – there were also many others following this sentiment. People have got a shock because they have experienced that Russia is a very different place than they had understood only a few years ago, says Senior Julie Wilhelmsen at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI).

Senior Tor Bukkvoll of Defence Research Establishment (FFI) believes annexation of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 marked a divide in how Norwegians perceive Russia.

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today