A survey published by eupinions on Oct. 13 found a significant gap between Ukrainians and EU citizens in support for Ukraine’s accelerated EU accession and their views on Kyiv’s role in defending Europe against Russian aggression.
The survey, conducted by Nira Data across all 27 EU member states and Ukrainian government-controlled territories and published by the Bertelsmann Stiftung’s eupinions project, found that 47% of EU citizens believe Ukraine should join the bloc in the coming years, compared with 83% of Ukrainian respondents.
Support for Ukraine's EU accession varied across the bloc, reaching 69% in Sweden, the highest share among the countries surveyed. Romania recorded the lowest level of support, at 40%.
Economic costs of Ukraine's accession appeared to be a key driver among respondents in most EU countries.
"Ukraine's precarious financial situation poses a challenge to the EU as a whole, as stability in our large European neighbor is a matter of shared interest. The estimated financing needs for reconstruction alone now exceed 500 billion euros ($560 billion)," said Miriam Kosmehl, the organization's expert on Eastern Europe.
Twenty-eight percent of EU respondents consider increased financial burden as the main challenge if Ukraine joins the Union.
The question of security was also raised in the report.
Over half, or 58% of Ukrainians, believe that their country is making a greater contribution to protecting the EU from possible Russian aggression. On the other hand, only 16% of EU citizens agree with the statement.
Besides Ukraine, Germany, France, and the Netherlands had the highest percentage of citizens who believe Ukraine does more to protect Europe from Russia.
However, a mere 14% of EU citizens believe that Ukraine's membership has the possibility of making the Union "stronger and more influential on the global stage."
Kosmehl noted that Ukraine's defense of its sovereignty and independence directly impacts the future of democracy and security in Europe.
“Russia seeks to exploit internal divisions to weaken EU consensus and solidarity. Open societies face particular challenges in addressing targeted influence operations,” she adds.