Almost two thirds of EU citizens are concerned about the security of the European Union, with Portuguese citizens being the most concerned about security issues, according to the results of a recently published survey conducted on behalf of the European Commission, reports European Pravda, citing DPA .

Some 47% of EU citizens surveyed said they were “quite concerned” about the security of the EU over the next five years, while another 17% said they were “very concerned”.

According to the results, the most concerned about security are residents of Portugal (77%). In Germany, 54% of respondents said they were “fairly” or “very” concerned about EU security.

As part of a representative survey, the opinion research institute Ipsos conducted an online survey of more than 25,000 EU citizens aged 15 and over in late June and early July.

According to the poll, around 58% of EU citizens are still optimistic about the future of the EU, while around 37% expressed pessimistic sentiments.

Around 50% of EU citizens consider the war in Ukraine to be the biggest current challenge for the EU, while 41% of respondents now consider illegal migration to be the biggest challenge.

Another 35% of respondents also named environmental issues and climate change.

When it comes to issues that the EU should prioritise, respondents most frequently named the environment and climate change (33%) and illegal migration (also 33%), followed by security and defence (29%) and the war in Ukraine (25%).

EU citizens are divided on how the EU economy will develop over the next five years.

About 50% of respondents expressed confidence about the future of the economy, while 45% said they were more sceptical.

Let us recall that in Poland, 70% of respondents consider the current situation in Ukraine to be a threat to the sovereignty and independence of the country, while 30% called it insignificant or non-existent.

In addition, the vast majority of Ukrainians believe that security agreements with partners in continuation of the G7 Vilnius Declaration are useful for Ukraine’s defense capability, but at the same time have reserved hopes for them.