What do Italian and European Voters Think of EU Policies Towards Ukraine?

In February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion into Ukraine, profoundly altering EU policies and politics. The European Union and its member states have strongly supported Ukraine in its defence. 

In the early days of the war, the Draghi administration took a strong position of unequivocal support for Ukraine despite Italy’s significant political and economic ties to Russia, which enjoy considerable public support. 

Upon assuming office, Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government upheld this position, disregarding the preferences of her voter base and coalition partner.

Against the backdrop of the upcoming European parliamentary elections, this report focuses on the correlation in Italy between individuals’ political party preferences and their stance on seven key Ukraine-related policy issues:

1. Does the European Union need a common defence policy? 
2. Should the EU support Ukraine by delivering weapons?
3. Should your country accept refugees from Ukraine?
4. Should the EU accept Ukraine as a member state in the coming years?
5. Should the EU become more energy independent of Russia even if that means prices are rising 
   even further?
6. Do you think economic and financial sanctions on Russia are effective or ineffective?
7. Do you think the reconstruction of Ukraine will be an economic opportunity or an economic 
   burden for the EU? 

For each question, we provide an overview of the general distribution in Italy, followed by a  breakdown according to political party preferences. 

These findings stem from a survey conducted in December 2023, encompassing nearly 13,000 EU citizens. Our dataset is representative of the EU as a whole and, more specifically, of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Spain. In Italy, we interviewed 1,325 citizens. 

In summary, our findings are as follows: 

• There is no prevailing majority stance on the delivery of weapons to Ukraine. Supporters of FdI and FI are split, with a slight tendency towards rejecting the delivery of weapons. 
• There is more support in the political centre than on either end of the political spectrum. 
• Overall, support is strongest among those aligned with the PD. 
• Overall, support is weakest among those aligned with Lega. 
• Overall, support is stronger among FI and FdI adherents than among Lega adherents. 
• Among those aligned with parties within the current Italian government coalition, support is strongest among FI adherents, followed by FdI and Lega adherents. 

About eupinions  

eupinions is an independent platform for European public opinion. It collects, analyses and comments on what the European public thinks about current political issues and megatrends. Every quarter, eupinions collects samples from each EU Member State in 22 languages. 

IEP@BU does not express opinions of its own. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors. Any errors or omissions are the responsibility of the authors.

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