2024-02-14 19:53:45
An EU-wide study shows that the majority of EU citizens want Ukraine to join the EU. The Germans, however, see it differently.
A slim majority of Germans are against Ukraine joining the European Union (EU). According to a survey by the Bertelsmann Foundation published on Wednesday, 52 percent are against it. Across the EU, however, approval is 60 percent. Germany therefore plays a special role in the EU countries.
The European Council decided in December to start EU accession negotiations with Ukraine. Observers are currently seeing this primarily as a symbolic step, as it could still be years before actual admission into the EU takes place.
EU common defense policy
When it comes to the question of whether the EU needs a common defense policy, the opinion in Germany is almost identical to the EU-wide result. In Germany, 86 percent of respondents answered yes, and across the EU the figure is 87 percent. Spain (94 percent) and Italy (90) are significantly higher, while in France approval is lower at 81 percent.
“The upcoming elections in the USA and the EU are of crucial importance for Ukraine, but also for the European security order. If there is a change of government in the USA, Europe will face great security policy uncertainties,” said Isabell Hoffmann, expert of the Bertelsmann Foundation on the result. The large EU-wide majority in favor of a European defense policy supports the political decision-makers in the EU “who want to decisively address the urgently needed strengthening of their own security,” said Hoffmann.
Every three months, citizens of all EU member states are surveyed about European issues for the opinion research tool “eupinions”. Most recently in December 2023. The survey, with a sample size of 13,299 people, is representative of the EU as a whole as well as the member states Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland and Spain.