Support for Ukraine in Europe remains high, but the differences between Northern and Southern Europe are becoming more pronounced, a Eurobarometer survey shows
Following a controversial report by the European Council on Foreign Relations predicting forthcoming cracks in European public opinion regarding the war in Ukraine, newest Eurobarometer (EU’s leading sociological survey) has recently been published and it also centers around the war and the attitudes of Europeans towards its consequences.
Polling data from 27 EU countries demonstrates a rather high level of consolidation in Europe regarding the war, however it also highlights clear-cut national differences.
Based on the polling data we compiled an index of support for Ukraine among the EU countries and found that it clearly correlates with the level of their national income.
Economically advanced nations of Northern Europe (the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Germany) show the highest level of popular support towards Ukraine, whereas less well off Southern European countries (Portugal, Croatia, Romania, Hungary, Greece, Bulgaria) are least supportive.
About 40% of EU respondents in general are ready to tolerate a further decline in living standards due to the need to defend European values through sanctions against Russia, while about 60% are not. In terms of geography, again Northern Europeans show more tolerance toward potential economic hardship, while Southern Europeans express a strong reluctance.
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RUSSIAN FIELD: SUPPORT FOR NON-SUPPORT OF PEACE AND WAR
Over the past year, the independent Russian Field project has been surveying its respondents about their support for a renewed offensive against Kyiv and their support for a peace agreement with Ukraine. The answers to these questions allow us to identify three different groups: those who support escalation, those who are opposed to it, and conformists who approve of any decision made by the authorities. What is the structure of these groups and how do they relate to one another?
The Fog of War and The Climate of Opinion: polls indicate rising pro-war sentiments, increasingly positive assessments of the success of the ‘special military operation,’ and growing fear of pollsters
THE PLUNGE INTO WAR: PUBLIC OPINION CHRONICLED
While at first glance it may seem as though there is a declarative ‘majority of support’ for the war, there is perhaps more significantly a ‘majority of non-resistance’, which allows the pro-war minority to dominate the public debate. For mainstream Russian society, the ‘plunge into war’ remains a coerced strategy, and the consolidation of revanchist sentiments among one segment of society coexists with the considerable potential for demobilisation within another. Re: Russia presents an overview of the results of public opinion polling conducted by the independent Chronicles project.