Putin Concocts a Decline in European Public Support for Ukraine

During a July 24 videoconference with permanent members of the Russian Security Council, President Vladimir Putin claimed that public opinion in Europe is changing, and that Europeans tend to believe that supporting Ukraine is a waste of money and not in European interests:

“We can see the public opinion changing in Europe, too. Both the Europeans and European elites see that support for Ukraine is, in fact, a dead end, an empty, endless waste of money and effort, and in fact, serving someone else’s interests, which are far from European…”

That is false.

Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, EU member states and European institutions have provided more than 70 billion euros (more than $77 billion) in humanitarian and military assistance to Ukraine. Four million Ukrainian refugees are currently living in EU countries.

Public opinion polls conducted among Europeans from April 2022 to June 2023 found strong support for financial and military support for Ukraine; for economic sanctions against the Russian government, Russian companies, and individuals; and for humanitarian assistance to people affected by the war in Ukraine, including welcoming those fleeing the war into EU countries.

A Flash Eurobarometer survey (Eurobarometer is the polling instrument used by EU institutions to monitor European public opinion) was carried out during April 13-20, 2022, nearly two months after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. For the survey, online interviews were conducted with 26,066 EU citizens across 27 EU member states.

Here’s what that survey found:

“[M]ore than nine out of 10 respondents (93%) approve of providing humanitarian support to the people affected by the war. 88% of Europeans approve of the idea of welcoming in the EU people fleeing the war. 80% approve of the financial support provided to Ukraine.

…The vast majority of Europeans (80%) approve of the economic sanctions against Russia. 79% of Europeans approve of sanctions against Russian oligarchs to impose clear economic and political costs on Russia’s political elite responsible for the invasion.

Two-thirds of Europeans (67%) approve that the EU finances the purchase and supply of military equipment to Ukraine.”

Ninety percent or more of those surveyed in each of the 27 EU member states support “providing humanitarian support to the people affected by the war.”

The survey also found that while support for providing military equipment to Ukraine was highest in Finland (90%), Estonia (87%), Poland (86%), Lithuania (84%) and Portugal (83%), only 30%-31% of the respondents in Bulgaria and Cyprus supported arming Ukraine.

Three Eurobarometer surveys conducted from May 2022 to February 2023 in all 27 EU member states through 26,000+ in-person and online interviews found “continued strong solidarity of Europeans with Ukraine and their support for the actions undertaken to support the country and its people.” Various forms of assistance to Ukraine, from providing military equipment to allowing Ukrainian refugees into EU countries, were supported by 65%-93% of those surveyed.

Spring 2023 – Standard Eurobarometer, the most recent survey carried out for EU institutions, surveyed 26,425 EU citizens through face-to-face interviews from May 31 to June 21, 2023. It found that there had been no significant change in European attitudes toward support for Ukraine since April 2022:

“88% of EU citizens are in favor of providing humanitarian support to the people affected by the war, and 86% are in favor of welcoming into the EU people fleeing the war. 75% approve of financial support to Ukraine and 72% back economic sanctions on Russian government, companies and individuals.

In addition, 66% agree with banning state-owned media, such as Sputnik and Russia Today, from broadcasting in the EU and 64% support financing the purchase and supply of military equipment to Ukraine.”

Large surveys (12,000+ interviews) conducted four times a year in all 27 EU member states by eupinions, a project of Germany’s Bertelsmann Stiftung foundation, have also found undiminished support for assistance to Ukraine.

According to eupinions, in March 2022, 56% of EU residents approved of their countries supporting Ukraine “by delivering weapons.” A year later, in March 2023, 55% supported their countries providing military assistance to Ukraine

When eupinions asked respondents “Should the EU support Ukraine by delivering weapons?” — 62% answered “yes” both in March 2022 and a year later.

Eupinions noted that, according to its polls, “support for the delivery of weapons to Ukraine dropped somewhat” in the EU in September 2022, but in March 2023 ” bounced back to the level recorded in spring 2022.”

Eupinions found that in March 2022, 86% of its respondents supported their countries accepting Ukrainian refugees, while 79% gave the same answer a year later.