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Active wars near EU borders and disinformation have emerged as the greatest concerns for European citizens, according to a Eurobarometer survey published by the European Parliament on Wednesday.
The survey, conducted last autumn, found 72% of respondents expressed high concern about active wars near EU borders, whilst 69% said they were highly concerned about disinformation.
Other major security concerns included terrorism (67%), natural disasters worsened by climate change (66%) and cyber-attacks from non-EU countries (66%).
“What is striking is to see that it’s across member states,” European Parliament spokesperson Delphine Colard told Euronews.
“Maybe the Nordics or the Eastern countries were the first to flag those security and defense concerns in the past and now it’s very much generalized.”
Citizens also expressed significant concern about hate speech (68%), AI-generated misleading content (68%), online data protection (68%) and threats to freedom of speech (67%).
“We’ve seen for the last year a bit of attacks on multilateralism, on values, a rise of hate speech or disinformation online. We’ve seen AI tools more instrumentalized to seek to polarize or to distort a bit of the information space,” Colard said.
“So those threats or those risks are probably very perceived by the citizens.”
What citizens want from Parliament
As a result of these concerns, Europeans want the Parliament to prioritize tackling inflation (41%), followed by job creation (35%) and defense (34%).
Colard said the agenda established by the European Commission, Parliament and Council reflects citizens’ concerns.
“The question of competitiveness has been very high on the agenda, and it features all the questions of economy, industry, but also what citizens expect from the Parliament the most, which is tackling the inflation, high costs of living,” she said.
Security and defense have emerged as another point of tension, with proposals for more European defense instruments, investment and support to Ukraine, Colard added.
Questions linked to protecting citizens online have appeared on the agenda of nearly every parliamentary plenary session since the last European elections, she stressed.
An overwhelming 89% of respondents said European countries should be more united to face global challenges, while 86% want the EU to have a stronger voice on the international stage.
Citizens expect the EU “to protect” and “to be prepared to act together,” Colard said. Two-thirds (66%) of respondents would like the EU to better protect them against global crises and risks.
Overall, 62% of citizens view their country’s membership in the 27-member bloc positively, although public perception of the EU has weakened since May 2025.