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A majority of Europeans continue to view Ukraine positively and support maintaining close strategic ties with Kyiv, according to a new survey conducted by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR).
The poll, carried out across 15 European countries, found that most respondents regard Ukraine either as an ally or as an important partner whose cooperation is in Europe’s strategic interest, UATV English reports.
More than 30% of respondents across the surveyed countries described Ukraine as an ally. The strongest support was recorded in Sweden, where 52% of participants shared this view, followed by Denmark with 45%.
In the United Kingdom, 26% of respondents considered Ukraine an ally. Similar attitudes were recorded in Poland and Hungary, despite periodic tensions in relations between Kyiv and those countries. In Poland, 24% of respondents described Ukraine as an ally, while in Hungary the figure stood at 15%.
An even larger share of Europeans viewed Ukraine as a necessary partner. More than 30% of respondents across most surveyed countries selected this option, reflecting broad support for continued strategic cooperation. The only exceptions were Sweden (27%), Italy (29%), Hungary (28%), and Bulgaria (26%), where slightly lower percentages expressed this view.
The survey also indicated that Europeans currently hold a more favorable overall opinion of Ukraine than of the United States, highlighting Kyiv’s strong standing among European publics more than four years into Russia’s full-scale invasion.
At the same time, support for Ukraine does not automatically translate into backing for direct military involvement. The poll found that a majority of respondents opposed sending national troops to Ukraine following a potential peace agreement.
Skepticism toward such deployments was particularly noticeable in several major European military powers. Opposition to sending troops was reported by 28% of respondents in Germany, 23% in France, and 30% in Poland.
Support for the deployment of international peacekeeping forces after the war remained relatively limited. The highest levels of backing were recorded in Finland (17%) and Denmark (18%), while support stood at 15% in both Spain and Portugal and 11% in the United Kingdom.
The online survey was conducted in May 2026 among adults in Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
The findings suggest that while Europeans continue to see Ukraine as an important strategic partner and broadly support its right to defend itself, many remain cautious about committing their own military personnel to future security arrangements on Ukrainian territory.
