Europeans who think that the EU needs assistance from the US and NATO include 65 percent of Poles, 65 percent of Italians, 63 percent of Germans, 56 percent of Spaniards, 54 percent of Brits, and 53 percent of French people. At the same time, 30 percent of respondents in France, 33 percent in Spain, and 31 percent in America think that the EU is able to protect itself on its own.
In general, respondents under 50 who support left-wing parties think that the EU does not need the help of the US and NATO when it comes to defense. In all countries, except Poland, these tend to be people with college degrees who have higher incomes and social status.
The effectiveness of NATO has become a hot topic since US President Donald Trump called the alliance important but ‘obsolete’ and called for reform.
The survey was conducted by Ifop, the oldest polling company in France, between October 22 and October 26, 2016. The survey involved 7,043 respondents over 18 years of age in France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Great Britain and the US. The sample is representative of the country’s population with respect to gender, age and geography. The maximum selection bias in general in a country is +/− 3.1 percent with a 95 percent confidence level.
SPUTNIK/MNA
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