Most Germans, French see ‘high risk’ of war with Russia, survey shows

A majority of citizens in Germany, France, the Netherlands and several other European Union member states believe there is a high chance of Russia going to war with their country, a survey has found.

Across nine European countries surveyed, just over half of respondents said the risk of war was “high” or “very high”, the survey by French pollster Cluster17 showed on Thursday.

Poland, which shares a border with Russia and was formerly a part of the Soviet Union, showed by far the most anxiety about war, with 77 percent of respondents seeing a high risk of conflict, according to the survey.

In Belgium and the Netherlands, 59 percent of respondents saw a high risk of war, with roughly half of Germans, French and Spanish saying the same.

Italians were the least likely to see a risk of war, at 34 percent of respondents, followed by Portuguese and Croatians.

Meanwhile, just under half of Europeans surveyed said they viewed United States President Donald Trump as an “enemy of Europe,” up four points from September.

The poll was published in the Paris-based foreign affairs journal Le Grand Continent.

Europe’s security environment has been a pressing concern for its leaders since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

France announced last week that it would reintroduce military service, which was abolished in 1996, from next year on a voluntary basis, following similar moves by Belgium and the Netherlands.