Nearly seven in 10 Europeans believe their countries face significant threats, while 42 percent say their personal safety is at risk, according to a survey released Friday.
The Flash Eurobarometer 574 poll was conducted by Brussels-based research firm Demoscopy ahead of the Munich Security Conference at the request of the European Commission.
Results show that 68 percent of respondents across the European Union consider their country to be under threat.
The perception was strongest in France, where 80 percent expressed concern, followed by Netherlands at 77 percent, Denmark at 77 percent, and Germany at 75 percent.
On defense spending, 32 percent of participants said the European Union has not done enough to strengthen security, while 34 percent believe their national governments have also failed to take adequate action.
Despite these concerns, 52 percent of Europeans said they trust the EU to improve security and defense capabilities.
Confidence was highest in Luxembourg at 76 percent, followed by Portugal at 74 percent and Lithuania at 71 percent.
Trust levels were notably lower in the bloc’s three largest economies — Italy, Germany and France — where 47 percent of German and Italian respondents and 40 percent of French respondents said they did not share that confidence.
Support for defense investment remains strong overall. Nearly three-quarters of respondents either back the EU’s current level of defense spending or favor increasing it.
The strongest support was recorded in Portugal at 89 percent, followed by Finland at 83 percent, Lithuania and Spain at 80 percent, and Denmark at 78 percent.
The Flash Eurobarometer 574 survey was conducted online between Jan. 5 and Jan. 12 and included approximately 27,000 respondents across the EU’s 27 member states.
