Cyprus Mail 15 December 2022 - by Nick Theodoulou
Cypriots remain amongst the most sceptical of the EU’s handling of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with 53 per cent approving overall of the bloc’s support for Kyiv.
While that’s still a slight majority, it captures the split in Cyprus over the invasion and is in stark contrast when compared to nations such as Sweden (97 per cent overall support), the Netherlands (93 per cent) and Portugal (92 per cent).
In total, across the EU, some 74 per cent of citizens said they approve of the Union’s backing of Kyiv
Notably, Cyprus is one of just four EU members where there is no majority support for the bloc’s “concrete support actions” for Ukraine, ranging from sanctions and financial to military support.
In Cyprus 48 per cent of those polled in the Eurobarometer survey approved of such “concrete support actions”, with Greece (46 per cent), Slovakia (47 per cent, and Bulgaria (49 per cent) being the only other countries without majority approval.
Again, that’s a world away from Finland (96 per cent), Sweden (96 per cent) and the Netherlands (93 per cent). Germans were polled at 71 per cent approving.
Cypriots were also amongst the least satisfied with the cooperation between EU member states in addressing the consequences of the war in Ukraine – with 56 per cent saying they are not satisfied. Only the Greeks at 61 per cent were more unsatisfied. The Irish – at 84 per cent – were polled as being the most satisfied.
The poll further found that 65 per cent of all those polled across the bloc are not confident that their lives will continue unchanged following the potential consequences stemming from the war in Ukraine.
The survey was ordered by the European Commission and was published on Wednesday, with the work having been conducted between October 12 and November 7 – involving 26,443 respondents.
Their findings were largely in line with previous polls, such as the one in May which found that Cyprus is the only EU nation where an absolute majority disagrees or tends to disagree that Russian authorities are first and foremost responsible for the war in Ukraine.
Another in October found that just over half of Cypriots believe that the government was right to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine – at 54 per cent – but 58 per cent disagree with joining the EU sanctions.
