Fewer Europeans fully back the continued financial and humanitarian support of Ukraine by the European Union than at the start of the conflict, the latest Eurobarometer data revealed.
The collection of pan-European public opinion surveys conducted regularly on behalf of the bloc showed support is waning among EU citizens for the conflict in their own backyard, which continues to show few signs of easing.
In April last year, a majority of Europeans said they “totally agreed” with opening the borders for Ukrainian refugees, providing humanitarian aid to those who remained in the war-torn country, and imposing economic sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine two months prior.
However, a mood check in August 2023 shows none of these efforts now have the total support of a majority of EU citizens.
Those who fully approve of providing humanitarian support to people affected by the war have dropped from 64 percent in April last year to 47 percent. Support for welcoming Ukrainian refugees into the European Union has decreased from 55 percent to 36 percent, while unequivocal support for the continuation of economic sanctions against Moscow has dropped from 55 percent to 46 percent.
Similarly, just 26 percent of Europeans now totally agree with the European Union providing financial support to Ukraine, down from 42 percent, and less than a quarter (24 percent) totally agree with the supply of military equipment to Kyiv.
It is important to note that all of the above categories, with the exception of supplying military equipment, still garner a majority of support when factoring in those who opted for “tend to agree” in the survey, but the latest polling shows an undeniable slide in unequivocal support for a conflict that has now been raging for more than 18 months without a solution.
Ukraine was dealt a heavy blow earlier this month when Poland, one of Kyiv’s staunchest allies in the conflict against Russia, announced it would no longer be supplying weapons to its neighbor and would instead be focusing on stockpiling its own national defenses.
And it isn’t just in Europe where fatigue is starting to set in among the electorate. A recent SSRS poll commissioned by CNN revealed that a majority of Americans believe that Washington D.C. should withdraw financial support to Kyiv.
A total of 55 percent of respondents said that the U.S. Congress should not authorize further funding for Ukraine and 51 percent of those polled said that NATO’s largest contributor had already done enough to help the country.
Just 48 percent said the United States should be doing more, down considerably from the 62 percent recorded at the outbreak of the conflict in February last year.
