According to a survey, a large proportion of people in Europe are concerned about the security of the EU. Nevertheless, most are optimistic about the future of the EU.
Almost two-thirds of EU citizens are concerned about the security of the European Union. Around 47 percent of Europeans surveyed said they were “quite concerned” about the security of the EU over the next five years, while around 17 percent of respondents said they were “very concerned”, according to a survey conducted on behalf of the European Commission.
The people in Portugal have the greatest security concerns (77 percent). In Germany, 54 percent of respondents said they were “quite” or “very” concerned about the security of the EU.
More than 25,000 EU citizens aged 15 and over were surveyed online by the opinion research institute Ipsos between the end of June and the beginning of July for what is said to be a representative survey.
According to the survey, around 58 percent of Europeans tend to be optimistic about the future of the EU. Around 37 percent, on the other hand, are rather pessimistic about the future.
According to the survey, around half (50 percent) of EU citizens see the war in Ukraine as the biggest challenge facing the EU at the moment. 41 percent of respondents consider irregular migration to be one of the biggest challenges at the moment. Environmental problems and climate change are among them for a good third (35 percent) of respondents. The answers of respondents from Germany were almost identical to the EU average.
When it comes to the issues that the EU should prioritize, respondents most frequently cite the environment and climate change (33 percent) and irregular migration (also 33 percent), followed by security and defense (29 percent) and the war in Ukraine (25 percent).
Opinions among EU citizens are divided on the performance of the EU economy over the next five years. About half (50 percent) of respondents are confident, while 45 percent are more sceptical.
