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A poll conducted across the 32 NATO countries has highlighted strong support for the alliance, while 76 per cent of respondents called for maintained or increased defence spending.
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Opinion polling conducted across the 32 NATO member states has indicated strong ongoing support for the NATO alliance, while attitudes held towards Russia have continued to decline.
The 31,386-person poll interviewed 1,000 participants in each NATO country, except for 500 in Albania and Montenegro, with quotas applied on gender, age, and region to weight the responses in line with each member state’s latest population statistics.
The poll found that 73 per cent of respondents considered the alliance to be important for the future security of their country, with 60 per cent believing that their country was safer as a result of cooperation between North American and European members.
France was the least likely to consider their country safer as a result of NATO membership, with only 50 per cent of French respondents responding positively.
Meanwhile, Denmark, Norway, Lithuania, and Poland all polled in excess of 80 per cent favourability to the question of safety.
The poll, conducted between April and May, was held ahead of the upcoming NATO Summit in Washington. While addressing the key security concerns of the member nations, the summit also marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the alliance.
Ahead of the summit, Secretary General Jen Stoltenberg said that Ukraine was moving forward towards NATO membership, while working more closely with partners in the Indo-Pacific.
“The closer that authoritarian actors align, the more important it is that we work closely with our friends in the Indo-Pacific,” he said.
Leaders from Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and the Republic of Korea were invited to the summit.
As NATO prepares to discuss new packages for Ukraine, respondents across the 32 member states highlighted their continued support for the country as well as increased domestic defence expenditure.
Seventy-six per cent of respondents stated that their country should either maintain or increase defence spending, with 61 per cent agreeing with their country providing support for Ukraine.
While Ukraine received substantial support, it was not uniform across the alliance.
Over 50 per cent of respondents in Bulgaria, North Macedonia, and Greece disagreed with the statement that NATO should provide support for Ukraine. Forty-nine per cent of respondents in Hungary also disagreed with the statement.
Only 11 per cent of respondents held a positive view of Russia.
Despite the welcome results ahead of the NATO Summit, the poll indicated declining trust in the media.
Only 44 per cent of respondents trust the media in their country to tell the truth regarding the war in Ukraine, while 49 per cent do not.
