Study finds eastern-western Europe divide on how religion influences voting choices

People with right-wing views are more likely to choose a leader who shares their religious beliefs, the Pew Research Centre told Euronews.

Transcript

00:00Around 84% of the world population is religious and the number is expected to grow.

00:09In some countries, religious beliefs and voting intentions are closely related.

00:15Many people want political leaders who share their same faith and practices.

00:21That's particularly true for some Asian and African states.

00:25A new Pew Research Center survey found

00:29that also for some European nations, particularly in Eastern Europe.

00:34In Poland, for example, 52% want their leader to practice their same religion.

00:42In Greece, it's 42%. In Hungary, 40%.

00:47People who identify with the right end of the political spectrum

00:52are more likely to say things such as

00:56that it's important for my leader to have religious beliefs that are the same as mine

01:01or have strong religious beliefs, even if they differ from my own.

01:05And so, while it isn't necessarily true in every single country,

01:09that is a broad sort of pattern that we do see.

01:14Western and Northern Europe stand at the opposite side of the spectrum.

01:19In the Netherlands, only 15% of people care about that.

01:24Likewise, in Germany, the UK, France and Spain,

01:29less than a quarter of respondents believe religion is relevant to their political choices.

01:35Italy is the only exception among Europe's biggest economies,

01:39with 30% of people wanting their leader to follow the same religion.