Europeans for Ukraine

Since the beginning of Russia's war against Ukraine a year and a half ago, Europeans have been demonstrating their support for Ukrainians. Although media coverage of the conflict seems to be less intense now, how has this support evolved? Antoine Bristiel, Director of the Foundation's Public Opinion Observatory, deciphers the results of the fifth wave of the Ifop survey on how Europeans perceive the situation.

So, how do Europeans feel about the conflict in Ukraine? In previous articles, we have shown that the shock experienced by the European population after Vladimir Putin's actions led to very strong support for Ukraine and equally strong rejection of Russia's actions. But what is the situation today? Does Ukraine's image remain as good as ever? Moreover, is this support purely symbolic, or does it also extend to specific issues, such as the supply of military equipment or even Ukraine's integration into the European Union?

General support for Ukraine by Europeans
In June 2023, 70% of the French, 65% of the Germans, 82% of the British, 70% of the Italians, and 77% of the Spaniards said they had a good attitude toward Ukraine. Conversely, Russia has an extremely poor image among European public opinion. Only 15% of the French, 21% of the Germans, 15% of the British, 22% of the Italians, and 12% of the Spaniards have a good opinion of the country led by Vladimir Putin.

Moreover, this general support for Ukraine is not purely symbolic: more than two-thirds of people in the countries analyzed approve of economic and financial sanctions against Russia. When it comes to supplying arms to Ukraine, the picture is somewhat less clear, with some notable differences between the European countries analyzed.

While an overwhelming majority of Britons support the supply of arms to Ukraine (72%), this support is less pronounced in France (58%), Germany (55%), Italy (52%) and, to a lesser extent, Spain (63%).

In addition, Europeans are more supportive of Ukraine's accession to the European Union than of arms supplies.

Percentage of residents of different European countries who support Ukraine's application to join the European UnionWhile the same proportion of French (58%) and Germans (56%) support Ukraine's integration into the European Union and arms supplies, support for Ukraine's accession to the European Union is higher in the UK (82%), Spain (78%) and Italy (68%).