Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 triggered broad public support across Western democracies. Since then, support in the United States has declined and become sharply partisan. In this policy brief, we use Eurobarometer data from 2022 to 2024 to show that while overall support for Ukraine remains high in the European Union, it has declined over time and become more politically polarised. We introduce a polarisation index to compare trends across countries and over time. There is substantial heterogeneity: while support remains close to universal in some countries, such as Sweden, others have seen marked increases in polarisation, with support weakening particularly on the far right. We find that higher inflation is associated with greater polarisation for costly policies, such as sanctions against Russia, but not for humanitarian aid. Finally, we present suggestive evidence that polarisation in support for sanctions may reflect domestic political debate.
- How Polarised Is Support for Ukraine Across Europe?
- Jonathan Lehne - Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm Institute of Transition EconomicsMaiting Zhuang - Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics
- FREE Network Policy Brief Series
- Forum for Research on Eastern Europe and Emerging Economies (FREE) Network
- 9
- House of Sustainable Society; Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics
- English
- Report