Most EU Residents Oppose Ukraine's Rapid Accession to the European Union — Poll

More than half of European Union residents—53%—believe that Ukraine should not be admitted to the EU in the coming years. At the same time, 47% of those surveyed support the opposite view.

Opposition to Ukraine’s accelerated accession to the EU is highest in Romania—60%—and Germany—59%—as well as in France and Poland—57% each. The lowest percentage of those who do not support Ukraine’s rapid accession to the bloc is in Sweden—31 percent—followed by Spain and Portugal—37 percent each—and the Netherlands—43 percent. At the same time, 83% of Ukrainians support joining the European Union as soon as possible.

In addition, 58% of Ukrainians believe that Ukraine’s resistance to Russian aggression serves to protect the entire European continent and the EU as a whole. However, among EU residents, 29% are convinced that the EU itself and its member states contribute more to collective defense than Ukraine does.

Another 23% of Europeans surveyed consider the contributions of both sides to be equal. Only 16% of respondents named Ukraine as Europe’s main defender.

 This is according to the results of a study conducted by the Bertelsmann Foundation.

Ukraine expects to complete its accession to the EU in 2027, according to Kachka.

At the first meeting of the Council of the European Union’s Working Group on Enlargement (COELA) following the summer break on September 1, the Hungarian delegation once again refused to approve the results of the screening of negotiation clusters 2 and 3 for Ukraine. 

Ukraine expects to open the remaining negotiation clusters for accession to the European Union by the end of 2026. Prime Minister Serhiy Koretskyi discussed progress on European integration with European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos and stated that the government, together with parliament, is working to accelerate the necessary reforms.