Only 54%[/B] of respondents in Cyprus, compared to 80% on average in the European Union, agree with the EU's economic sanctions against Russia, according to the findings of the European Parliament's spring Eurobarometer.
Cyprus[/B] is also one of the countries where citizens consider that their daily lives will be affected[/B] by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, at 80% compared to 61% on average in the EU. The percentage in Cyprus is the second highest after Greece (86%).
Cyprus is also an exception in terms of the percentage of respondents who have a positive view of Russia,[/B] as 36% said they have a positive view, compared to 10% in the EU average (where it dropped from 30% in 2018).
The second lowest ranking in terms of positive view at EU level is China (22%, down 14 points compared to 2018).
Respondents at EU level have a more positive view of the UK (65%, up 1 point), followed by the US with 58% (up 13 points). As for Turkey, 28% of EU citizens have a positive view, with the corresponding figure in Cyprus at 9%.
At the same time, 65% of Europeans think that their country's membership of the EU is a good thing, recording the highest percentage since 2007 when it stood at 58%. In Cyprus, the percentage of respondents who said that their country's participation in the EU is a positive thing is at 53%[/B]
The results have increased compared to the last survey conducted at the end of 2021 in most countries, particularly in Lithuania (up 20 percentage points), Malta (up 12 percentage points) and Cyprus (up 12 percentage points).In addition, 42% of Cypriots (and 52% in the EU) have a positive image of the European Union. The EU-wide result is the highest percentage recorded since 2007.
Also, 42% of Cypriots (and 52% in the EU) have a positive image of the European Union. At Member State level, the highest percentage of a positive image of the EU was recorded in Ireland (76%) and the lowest in Greece (42%).
Although four in ten in the EU say they experience an impact on their standard of living due to inflation and the cost of living, 59% say that defending freedom and democracy should be a priority, even if it would affect prices and the cost of living.
In Cyprus, 48% of respondents believe that defending these values should be a priority.
In the same question, Cypriot respondents ranked somewhat higher among the priorities the containment of prices and the cost of living even if it affected the defence of common European values (51%) compared to the European average (39%).
In terms of the challenges they think the European Parliament should prioritise, public health comes first for Cypriots (58%) followed by fighting poverty and social exclusion (45%) and supporting the economy and creating new jobs (42%).
On average in the EU, citizens rank the fight against poverty and social exclusion first (38%), followed by public health (35%), down 7 points in the last six months. The third priority is democracy and the rule of law (32%), up 7 points.
In response to a question on which core values should be the European Parliament's priority to defend, EU citizens put democracy in first place, which increased by six points compared to autumn 2021 (reaching 38%), followed by the protection of human rights in the EU and worldwide, and freedom of speech and thought (27% for both).
In Cyprus the percentages show little variation from the average, with respondents giving the highest ranking to the protection of human rights in the EU and worldwide (37%), freedom of speech and thought (31%) and democracy (30%).
The survey was conducted between 19 April and 16 May, involving 26,580 citizens across the EU, and 503 citizens in Cyprus through face-to-face interviews.
Source: CNA
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