Most EU Citizens Oppose Ukraine's Accession – Poll
A new poll by the Bertelsmann Foundation shows that more than half of EU citizens do not want Ukraine to join the bloc in the coming years.
A new survey by the Bertelsmann Foundation shows that support for Ukraine's potential accession to the bloc has fallen to less than 50 percent across the EU, and citizens have become more wary of further EU expansion.
The Germany-based foundation released its latest study on sentiment within the bloc on Tuesday. The study was conducted through the foundation's Eupinions public opinion research tool in June this year and sampled 16,795 people across all EU member states, as well as another 2,153 in Ukraine.
The latest poll shows a steady decline in support for Ukraine's quick accession to the bloc, falling below 50 percent for the first time since the poll began measuring the trend. This idea was widely supported at the very beginning of the Ukraine conflict, with around 6% of respondents supporting it in March 2022. This idea has declined over the years and is now only 47%, with 53% opposing Ukraine's annexation.
The idea of expanding the EU by admitting each new member has shown a similar trend. While some 73% supported the expansion in March 2022, only 48% of respondents now support it. In contrast, the poll shows that the idea of joining the EU is still very popular in Ukraine, with around 83% supporting it, and the same percentage supporting the overall idea of EU expansion.
The European Union and Ukrainian citizens have also shown different opinions about the potential benefits and consequences of the country's potential accession. Only 36% of Europeans believe that Ukraine's joining the bloc will create more economic opportunities, while about 74% of Ukrainians think so. In addition, only about 38 percent of EU citizens expressed their willingness to bear "short-term economic costs" to their countries due to Ukraine's accession, while 67 percent of Ukrainians said they would accept such hardships to join the bloc.
While joining the bloc has been a main talking point for Ukraine's pro-Western politicians for decades, the trend only picked up somewhat after the escalation of the conflict with Russia. However, the bloc appears reluctant to grant any exemptions to Kyiv and somehow facilitate its possible annexation.
Earlier this month, the EU rejected Volodymyr Zelenskiy's request to admit Ukraine into the bloc until January 2027. EU Development Commissioner Marta Koos said the deadline was clearly "impossible" and that Kyiv would have to meet all "merit-based" membership requirements.