European Union citizens want more unified and bold leadership, survey suggests

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BRUSSELS (AP) — Citizens across the European Union want more unified, stronger and ambitious leadership of the 27-nation bloc as it faces military threats, economic pressures and climate instability, according to an official EU poll.

The Eurobarometer survey was conducted before U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a military operation that captured the former Venezuelan leader and rattled European nations by threatening to seize Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of Denmark. It did not specifically ask about Washington, NATO or China.

More than 2,600 EU citizens were asked questions in mostly face-to-face meetings in November. They overwhelmingly supported a more muscular EU — 69% say they wanted an expanded security role in global crises, 87% a more diplomatically aggressive Brussels on topics like peace and climate change, and 90% called for a bloc more unified to tackle key issues. The margin of error was 2 percentage points.

The poll found a majority of EU citizens are “highly worried” about conflicts near the bloc, climate change-fueled natural disasters and cyberwarfare.

The results broadly align with the stated goals and ambitions of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who has been hawkish on trade and defense and called for solidifying EU power in Brussels. She has struck trade deals across the world in the wake of Trump's tariff threats and China's curbs on critical mineral exports.

The poll results suggested that respondents believe Russian, U.S. and far-right attempts to divide the EU have so far not worked.

EU citizens were increasingly focused on defense, which emerged as the top priority in 18 of the 27 EU nations, according to the survey.

Anxieties identified in the poll included Russian hybrid attacks, including drone incursions in European airports, disinformation campaigns, the use of AI, social polarization, foreign meddling in elections and EU reliance on imports for its defense industry.

Pessimism about the state of world affairs was rife across respondents, who were more optimistic about the EU as a bloc than their own nations, and their personal situation.

“The contrast between personal confidence and broader uncertainty has important implications, shaping citizens’ priorities, attitudes toward governance, and expectations for cooperation at national, European, and global levels,” according to the poll.