Which are the most and least pro-Ukraine European countries? Swg report and the Italian case
Citizens of European states are overwhelmingly in favor of sending arms to Ukraine, according to a Euroskopia-Swg poll. But in Italy the opposites prevail. Here are data and comparisons
A recent survey conducted in nine European countries including Italy collects the opinions of citizens on some sensitive issues connected to the war in Ukraine and indeed brings out a clear pro Kiev line but with some striking distinctions and nuances which, for example, lead to the Europeans towards positions à la Orsini, ie peace in exchange for the cession of the occupied territories to Russia.
The Euroskopia-Swg survey
Coordinated by the Euroskopia network, the survey – here the complete results in the report provided by SWG, the Italian representative of the network – was carried out between 28 November and 12 December 2022 on a representative sample (9,000 subjects) of the population of the five most populous countries (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland) plus the Netherlands, Austria, Greece and Portugal.
Thus composed, the sample represents 77% of citizens of the European Union and therefore a more than significant portion of its population.
Sending weapons to Ukraine: the Europeans are in favor but in Italy the opposition prevails
A picture of solid support for Kiev and for the decision of the EU governments to supply it with arms is what emerges from the responses of the sample to the question “Your country is sending arms to Ukraine. Do you agree or disagree with this decision?”.
The average figure for the nine countries surveyed shows that those in favor clearly prevail (56%) over those against (34%).
But the differences between the various countries are marked: on the one hand we have realities such as the Netherlands (81% in favour), Austria (80%), Portugal (74%), France (65%) and Poland (64% ) where public opinion is clearly biased in favor of sending military supplies; on the other we have two countries such as Italy (45% in favor and 46% against) and Greece (38% and 60%) in which opinions are reversed in a pacifist direction.
Peace in exchange for territories: those who want to make Ukraine drink the bitter cup prevail
If on the front of sending arms the majority of European citizens take sides in pro-government positions, there is a markedly dissonant opinion on that of the price of an eventual peace between Russia and Ukraine.
Almost half of the respondents (48%) agree with the statement "The war in Ukraine should end, even at the cost of Ukraine giving up part of its territory." Only 32% are instead unwilling to make Ukraine accept an option, that of peace in exchange for the cession of territories, which sees the Ukrainian government firm in its refusal.
Here too there are differences between the various countries. In Austria (64% agree and 17% disagree), Germany (60 and 22%) and Greece (54 and 31%) those in favor of the transfer of territories are the absolute majority, while in Italy and Spain they reach 50 %. On the opposite front we find the Netherlands (26 and 48%), Poland (28 and 42%), France (43 and 33%) and Portugal (40 and 45%) where the ratio between those in favor and against is reversed in favor of the latter.
Ukraine in the EU: full support but with some cracks
On average, as many as 60% of European citizens welcome Ukraine's admission as a member of the EU, against just 25% who are against it. The path traced by the EU institutions, which already last year opened a preferential lane for Kiev, therefore sees the public opinion more than in agreement.
But if we disaggregate the data by country, we discover that there are areas of the continent where citizens are more conflicted. This is certainly the case of Austria (47% in favor and 42% against) and Italy (49 and 30%), where the consensus on the hypothesis of Ukraine's entry into the EU is no longer majority and clashes with a substantial share of skeptics.
On the other hand, Germany (60 and 31%), France (59 and 26%), the Netherlands (58 and 25%) and Greece (54 and 39%) remain in favour.
Instead in Portugal (78 and 11%), Spain (70 and 18%) and Poland (78 and 13%) the ratio between those in favor and against clearly sees the former prevail.
Re-establish energy relations with Russia after the conflict. Europeans are against it but not in Greece and Austria
The hypothesis that one's own country may return to importing Russian gas after the signing of a peace agreement meets the opposition of a relative majority of public opinion (35% in favor and 46% against).
However, there are clear differences between the nine countries in which the survey was conducted. In Poland, for example, just 13% are in favor compared to almost 60% against. The citizens of the Netherlands (25 and 54%) and Portugal (26 and 51%) are also lukewarm.
While in Italy (40 against 43%) and Germany (44 and 43%) those in favor and against are almost equal, in Greece (64 against 28%) and Austria (52 against 36%) the absolute majority of citizens are inclined the resumption of contacts and business with the Russian Federation.
Swg graphics
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/opinioni-ucraina-sondaggio-euroskopia/ on Wed, 18 Jan 2023 08:00:22 +0000.