Europeans appear divided on their willingness to continue supporting Ukrainian refugees, according to a study by the Mercator Forum for Migration and Democracy (MIDEM) at the Dresden University of Technology in Germany.
Of those surveyed, 40% of Europeans were in favour of supporting Ukraine and accepting any negative consequences of this support, while 39% said that support for Ukraine should be limited because of the economic and social consequences.
In light of the energy crisis, support to Ukraine could be reduced in the future.
Solidarity with Ukraine may be tested in the coming months, MIDEM Director Hans Vorlander said at the presentation of the study today.
Refugee
According to the study, 55% of Europeans want to limit immigration of foreigners.
In eastern Germany, Hungary and the Czech Republic, a majority of citizens voted in favour of limited support for Ukraine.
In countries that appear largely open to refugees, such as Sweden, about two-thirds of respondents said in favour of support for Ukraine.
In Poland, the trend is in the opposite direction. There, 42% said they were in favour of restrictions. This is the highest percentage of any European country.
According to researchers, the survey also showed that solidarity does not apply equally to all refugees. "While there is a great willingness to accept and help Ukrainian refugees, there is scepticism towards refugees from other crisis areas," said Vorlander.
Reservations were particularly strong regarding migrants from Islamic countries.
The three camps
According to Ivan Krastev of the New York Times, three ideological camps for the end of the war have formed: the realists, the optimists and the revisionists.
The realists rightly believe that the war in Ukraine is more dangerous than the US-USSR confrontation in the Cold War, because of Putin's messianic illusions.
The optimists, for their part, believe that the expected victory of Ukraine will also mean the fall of the Putin regime. They argue that Russia's military humiliation means that Zelensky is right to refuse any negotiations with the Kremlin. Adherents of this view - like the Greens in Germany - argue that massive aid to Ukraine and Russian defeat can guarantee lasting peace.
Revisionists believe that only the collapse of the Russian confederation will bring stability to Europe. They thus call for the support of independence movements in the former Soviet republics, a demand that particularly appeals to countries that have been behind the Iron Curtain for decades. These radically different positions must, however, find common ground in order to end the war and de-escalate the crisis, without Russian or Ukrainian humiliation.
Source: in.gr
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