Some 48% of respondents surveyed by pollster Euroskopia said they wanted Kiev to compromise for the sake of peace
FILE PHOTO. A pro-peace rally in Rome, Italy. © Stefano Costantino / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images
Roughly half of the people in nine EU nations favor a swift end to the armed conflict in Ukraine, even if it means Kiev would have to relinquish its claims on some of its former territory, a new opinion poll has shown.
The survey was conducted in Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Spain. The results were reported on Tuesday by Euroskopia – an alliance of polling agencies based in those countries.
Some 48% of all respondents said they favored a quick resolution to the conflict, even if it meant Ukraine had to lose land to achieve that goal. Only 32% opposed the idea of Kiev making sacrifices for peace.
Ukrainian officials pledged to fight until their forces seized control of all the territory the country considers its own, and EU leaders have vowed to help as long as it takes.
The EU public’s skepticism was particularly profound in Austria and Germany, where 64% and 60% of those surveyed, respectively, favored a shortcut to peace. Euroskopia noted that this perspective clashed with the official stance of the German government, which has been among the most generous supporters in the EU in terms of military aid to Kiev.
Respondents in the Netherlands (27%) and Poland (28%) were the least supportive of making compromises to achieve peace, the poll indicated.
A majority (56%) of people in the nine EU nations want to continue shipping arms to Ukraine, but there was a dissenting minority. In Greece and Italy, 60% and 50% of survey participants opposed the military assistance, while 38% in each country said they approved of it.
Greeks and Italians are also among the least supportive of the sanctions imposed by the EU on Russia, according to the poll. While over 51% of all people polled favored the restrictions, the share of Greeks and Italians backing the policy was just 29% and 38%, respectively. In Austria, 38% of respondents approved of the sanctions.
