European public opinion: support for military aid to Ukraine has dropped to 50%, but majority favors Ukraine’s EU membership

The vast majority of citizens of European countries continue to support Ukraine's accession to the EU, but support for the supply of weapons to the armed forces in all countries is somewhat decreasing.

This is evidenced by the results of the pan-European Eupinions survey, the European public opinion research tool of the Bertelsmann Foundation, conducted in September, EP reports.

As noted, a clear majority of supporters of Ukraine's accession to the European Union continue to exist. Almost two-thirds of those polled in the EU vote for this move, which is six percentage points less than in March.

Readiness remains the highest:

• in Poland (82%),
• followed by Spain (78%).

In contrast, the highest skepticism is observed in Germany. Here, the majority in favor of entry has decreased to 55% (from 61% in March).

In addition, more than three-quarters of the surveyed Europeans are still ready to accept Ukrainian refugees in their country.

The highest openness is observed in Spain — and has remained unchanged since the first survey was conducted in March.

There, 89% say their country should accept refugees.

Across the EU, 77% still share this view.

In Germany, this willingness fell from March (86%) to 74% in September. France is in last place with 72%. Thus, readiness fell by 12 percentage points in both countries.

Meanwhile, across Europe, 50% of respondents still believe that their countries should support Ukraine by providing it with weapons to defend against russian aggression. In March, shortly after the start of the war, this figure was 56%.

On the other hand, in September, the approval of arms deliveries fell below 50% for the first time in Germany (48%, in March – 57%).

The lowest rate is in Italy — 36%. On the other hand, approval remains at a consistently high level in Ukraine's immediate neighbor Poland – 76%.

The survey is representative of the EU as a whole and seven member states: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Spain. It is published in collaboration with the Belgian King Baudouin Foundation.

It will be recalled that the German government wants to transfer more Gepard self-propelled artillery installations to Ukraine to protect against russian attacks.