A newly released Eurobarometer survey conducted by the European Parliament has revealed that under half of Greeks support the European Union’s stance on Ukraine.
The Eurobarometer poll Autumn 2022 survey revealed that just 48 per cent of Greeks approve of the European Union’s support for Ukraine following Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country in February, tied with Bulgaria and one percentage point behind Slovakia.
When asked about actions such as sanctions and military support for Ukraine, Greeks were even less enthusiastic, with just 46 per cent in support. Similar results were seen in Bulgaria, Slovakia, and Cyprus, where less than 50 per cent expressed support.
Interestingly, three of the four countries are predominantly Orthodox Christian, like Russia, in terms of religious affiliation, and have historically had a more favourable view of Russia than many other European countries — indeed, as recently as 2017 a Gallup poll found Greeks and Bulgarians had Russia as their first choice to defend them in wartime, despite being NATO members.
"It is estimated that more than 20,000 civilians and 100,000 Ukrainian military personnel have died to date," read a now-deleted portion of the EU chief's speech https://t.co/7FkKyKBiBl
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) December 2, 2022
Twenty-four of the EU’s 27 member-states still saw a majority of respondents agree with the EU’s stance toward Ukraine, with 97 per cent of Swedes and 95 per cent of Finns supportive. Across EU member-states, an average of 74 per cent back the EU.
The strongest support for sanctions and military aid was also seen in Sweden and Finland, followed by the Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland, and Portugal who all saw support at 90 per cent or higher.
Around two-thirds of EU residents expressed concern that the Ukraine war will have an effect on their lives, however, as 65 per cent stated they believed the conflict would directly change their lives.
Many have already been affected by rising inflation and energy issues, with some countries admitting they may be forced to ration electricity over the winter months.
In France, Xavier Piechaczyk, the president of Reseau Transport d’Electricite (RTE) and head of the national electricity grid, warned in November that power cuts across the country were likely over the winter.
Franck Charton, general delegate of Perifem, a French federation of supermarket chains, warned earlier this month that possible outages could cause large waste of fresh food as supermarkets would have little time to prepare for any scheduled outages.
“We have never experienced this situation… stores are very poorly equipped today with generators. We will not throw away frozen products that have for the most part more thermal inertia… [but] for fresh products that do not last two hours, there will indeed be a significant waste,” he warned.
In Sweden, the government has also called on residents to cut their electricity consumption, fearing that there are significant risks of outages due to pressure on the electrical grid.
Ukraine Warns of New Ground Attack on Kyiv as Fresh Missile Barrage Causes Widespread Power Cuts https://t.co/F5kvWUk4BA
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) December 16, 2022
Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.