Support for NATO in member states remains broad, confidence in Zelensky declines, poll finds

The NATO flag and the EU flag on June 9, 2023 in Riga, Latvia. (Gints Ivuskans/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)

Support for NATO across 13 member states surveyed remains high, with a median of 63% of respondents saying they had a "a positive opinion" of the alliance, according to a poll released by the Pew Research Center on July 2.

The poll also found that confidence in President Volodymyr Zelensky throughout a mix of 35 NATO members and other countries surveyed had dropped in many places, including a 22-point decline in Poland since 2023 (from 70% to 48%).

The highest number of respondents among European countries polled who said that they did not have confidence in Zelensky was in Hungary (83%).

In general, confidence in Zelensky remained at 40% among the countries surveyed. In many countries, it remained high, such as Sweden, at 80%. The decline was relatively moderate in some states – the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, and France all show a drop of seven points.

Of the countries surveyed, Poland also had the highest number of respondents saying they had a positive opinion toward NATO (91%), while the lowest was Greece, at 37%.

Generally, the survey found a decline in support for NATO since 2023 across the 13 countries, besides Hungary and Canada, which saw an 8% and 1% increase, respectively.

Consensus on aid for Ukraine was largely split, especially in the case of Poland, where 44% of respondents said the country was giving too much aid, 45% said the right amount and 6% said it was not enough.

In the U.S., 31% of those polled said that the level of support for Ukraine was too high, while 24% said it was not enough.

The consensus on Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia in general across the 35 countries remained negative, with 65% of respondents across the board saying they had an unfavorable opinion toward Russia and 73% saying they had "no confidence" in Putin to "do the right thing in global affairs."

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