Eurobarometer: Citizens Want Protection and Unity from EU

Brussels, March 29 (TASR) - As many as 66 percent of EU citizens and 63 percent of Slovaks think that the European Union should play a more important role in protecting its citizens against global crises and security risks in the future, according to a winter Eurobarometer survey whose results were provided to TASR by the European Parliament (EP) earlier this week. Almost three in four EU citizens (74 percent) and eight in ten Slovaks (80 percent) believe that their country benefits from EU membership. This is the highest percentage of positive answers at EU level since the question first appeared in Eurobarometer surveys in 1983. Respondents from across the EU view the Union's contribution to preserving peace and strengthening security as the biggest benefit of their country's EU membership (35 percent), while the job opportunities that the EU brings to Slovak citizens were viewed as the biggest benefit by Slovak respondents (51 percent). According to respondents surveyed, EU-member states should be more united so that they can face current global challenges, with 89 percent of the respondents from the whole EU and 88 percent from Slovakia agreeing with this. At the same time, 76 percent of EU citizens and 63 percent of Slovaks think that the EU needs more money to face current global challenges. The European Union is currently positively viewed by 50 percent of the EU population and 41 percent of Slovak citizens. At the EU level, its positive perception over the past ten years was only higher in the spring of 2022, after the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine (52 percent). The situation in Slovakia is slightly different: in the spring of 2024, the Union was positively viewed by 48 percent of respondents from Slovakia. In the spring of 2023, 31 percent of Slovak residents (and 45 percent of EU citizens) had a positive impression of the EU, while in the spring of 2022, the figure was 33 percent of respondents from Slovakia (and 52 percent of respondents from the entire EU). The winter Eurobarometer survey was carried out for the European Parliament between January 9 and February 4, 2025 in all 27 EU countries. ko/df