As Russia’s war on Ukraine continues to rage, European support for belonging to the EU has reached its highest level since 2007, according to a survey commissioned by the European Parliament.
The survey says 65 percent of Europeans see EU membership as a good thing, and 52 percent of Europeans have a positive view of the EU, against 12 percent negative.
A positive view of the EU prevails in 17 member countries — but major differences can be observed between EU members. While 76 percent of people in Ireland have a positive view of the EU, that number drops to just 32 percent in Greece. EU leaders are preparing to discuss candidate status for Ukraine and Moldova at this week’s European Council in Brussels.
The spring 2022 Eurobarometer was carried out among 26,578 respondents in the 27 EU member countries, between April 19 and May 16 this year.
When it comes to European elections, 59 percent of citizens say they consider voting highly important. But differences on this issue among member countries are also striking, with 72 percent of respondents in Estonia and 71 percent in Greece saying that participation in EU elections is not important to them.
The EU’s economic sanctions against Russia are supported by 80 percent of respondents. Overall, Europeans have a negative view of Russia in the wake of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It is seen positively only by 10 percent of respondents, down from 30 percent in 2018 when the question was last asked.
Four in ten Europeans say they are already experiencing an impact on their standard of living due to inflation. 58 percent of respondents say they are not ready to face increasing energy prices, and 59 percent are not ready for higher food prices.
