1. Luxembourg **90%** (same #1 position as 2019 – 86%)
2. Ireland **83%** (up from #3 – 83%)
3. Lithuania **79%** (up from #9 – 71%)
*Notable change: Netherlands dropped from #2 (84%) to #5 (78%)*
—
### **Top 3 EU haters in 2022**
These are the countries who consider the EU a bad thing these days:
1. Romania **23%** (down from #5/#4 – 13%)
2. Austria **20%** (down from #4/#3 – 15%)
3. *TIE* – Italy **13%** (up from #2/#1 – 21%) & Greece **13%** (up from #3/#2 – 17%)
Note: /#x is the position the country would have had without the UK. In 2019, the UK was the top hater with **22%** of the population considering the EU a bad thing.
*Notable changes: Italy & Greece, while still being in the top 3, have significantly improved their perception of the EU, +8% of Italians & +4% of Greeks let go of the EU hate.*
—
### **Top 3 least enthusiastic about the EU in 2022:**
These are the countries that don’t necessarily hate the EU, but aren’t really fans either:
1. Austria **42%** (down from #4 least enthusiastic in 2019, #5 if you count the UK)
2. Greece **43%** (down from #5/#6)
3. Slovakia **44%** (down from #6/#7)
*Notable change: Romania dropped from #11/#12 to #4 (57% to 46%, a 9% decline), almost cracking the top 3.*
—
### Top 3 improvement in considering the EU a good thing in 2022:
These are the countries that changed their mind about the EU and decided it’s not that bad. In fact, it may actually be pretty good:
1. Czechia **+18%** (from 33% to 51%)
2. Croatia **+14%** (from 40% to 54%)
3. Malta **+12%** (from 67% to 79%)
*Notable changes: Romania dropped the most (-9%, from 57% to 46%). Latvia almost cracked the top 3 with +11% (from 54% to 65%).*
—
### Top 3 increase in EU hatred in 2022
1. Romania **+10%** (from 13% to 23%)
2. Poland **+5%** (from 5% to 10%) & Austria **+5%** (from 15% to 20%)
3. Netherlands **+3%** (from 4% to 7%)
—
Some conclusions that I can draw as a Romanian:
1. These numbers are from November 2022, so mostly building up to the Austrian Schengen veto. Back then, Romanians did not expect Austria to veto & they believed Netherlands would simply abstain, instead of voting against based on their opinion on Bulgaria. However, there was an overall feeling of being treated as 2^nd class citizens already, since most of us don’t believe we had to keep negotiating, as we’ve met the accession criteria 12 years ago. Most Romanians already considered the Dutch position as simply fueled by hatred towards Roma. The Austrian veto hit so much harder. I expect the next Eurobarometer to be way worse.
2. 23% percent of Romanians considering the EU a bad thing is almost unbelievable to me. Insane statistic in a country where saying anything bad against the EU used to be political suicide. Even the 13% back in 2019 is crazy, but given how long we’ve been waiting to be treated as equals, not completely unexpected.
3. Romania also almost cracked the top 3 when it came to least enthusiastic about the EU, not just hate. For the first time since joining the EU, less than half of Romanians consider it a good thing. To me, this is something I would have never imagined 6 months ago.
4. I’m scared of 2024. It’s pretty clear that Romania will not join Schengen in 2023 – and even if it did, it would feel like pity at this point (& contrary to what some Western Europeans might think, Romanians despise pity to the point where they’d rather starve than accept a piece of bread from someone who humiliated them once).
2024 brings elections on every level – down from mayor of the smallest village to MPs, MEPs & President. So far, the only party that absolutely nailed the PR when it came to the Schengen humiliation was AUR. They’re like AfD & FN, only waaaay more fascist & less overtly pro-Russia (they’re walking an incredibly fine line between licking Putin’s ass and dealing with Romanians’ entrenched hatred of everything Russian). That said, I consider them serious contenders in any election going forward.
5. Can’t help myself but notice how Austria ranks last in EU support, 2^nd to last in EU hatred (after Romania) & 2nd in EU hatred increase (also after Romania). It’s clear that Austrians are fed up with something about the EU (immigration would be my best bet). What’s crazy to me is that their government chose to lash out at Romania & make them their scapegoat, which, in turn, made Romania just as euroskeptic, if not more. I try to stay away from conspiracies, but I wonder who stands to benefit from all this. Clearly, it’s neither Austria, nor Romania.
6. Luxembourg just loves the EU. I don’t know if it’s because they enjoy cross-border workers propping up their economy without actually taking any space or simply just want their insanely high cattle population to travel freely to German, French or Belgian pastures. Nonetheless, I absolutely dig their attitude.
That’s strange, I thought EU is universally loved by Romanians. It seems like I’m not aware of what Romanians really think, maybe I’m living in a disassociated reality.
That’s strange that Belgium fell a bit. If anything I think we profit more from Eu than we contribute.
5 comments
#####2019 up, 2022 down
Some interesting stuff:
### **Top 3 pro-EU countries in 2022:**
These countries just love the EU.
1. Luxembourg **90%** (same #1 position as 2019 – 86%)
2. Ireland **83%** (up from #3 – 83%)
3. Lithuania **79%** (up from #9 – 71%)
*Notable change: Netherlands dropped from #2 (84%) to #5 (78%)*
—
### **Top 3 EU haters in 2022**
These are the countries who consider the EU a bad thing these days:
1. Romania **23%** (down from #5/#4 – 13%)
2. Austria **20%** (down from #4/#3 – 15%)
3. *TIE* – Italy **13%** (up from #2/#1 – 21%) & Greece **13%** (up from #3/#2 – 17%)
Note: /#x is the position the country would have had without the UK. In 2019, the UK was the top hater with **22%** of the population considering the EU a bad thing.
*Notable changes: Italy & Greece, while still being in the top 3, have significantly improved their perception of the EU, +8% of Italians & +4% of Greeks let go of the EU hate.*
—
### **Top 3 least enthusiastic about the EU in 2022:**
These are the countries that don’t necessarily hate the EU, but aren’t really fans either:
1. Austria **42%** (down from #4 least enthusiastic in 2019, #5 if you count the UK)
2. Greece **43%** (down from #5/#6)
3. Slovakia **44%** (down from #6/#7)
*Notable change: Romania dropped from #11/#12 to #4 (57% to 46%, a 9% decline), almost cracking the top 3.*
—
### Top 3 improvement in considering the EU a good thing in 2022:
These are the countries that changed their mind about the EU and decided it’s not that bad. In fact, it may actually be pretty good:
1. Czechia **+18%** (from 33% to 51%)
2. Croatia **+14%** (from 40% to 54%)
3. Malta **+12%** (from 67% to 79%)
*Notable changes: Romania dropped the most (-9%, from 57% to 46%). Latvia almost cracked the top 3 with +11% (from 54% to 65%).*
—
### Top 3 increase in EU hatred in 2022
1. Romania **+10%** (from 13% to 23%)
2. Poland **+5%** (from 5% to 10%) & Austria **+5%** (from 15% to 20%)
3. Netherlands **+3%** (from 4% to 7%)
—
Some conclusions that I can draw as a Romanian:
1. These numbers are from November 2022, so mostly building up to the Austrian Schengen veto. Back then, Romanians did not expect Austria to veto & they believed Netherlands would simply abstain, instead of voting against based on their opinion on Bulgaria. However, there was an overall feeling of being treated as 2^nd class citizens already, since most of us don’t believe we had to keep negotiating, as we’ve met the accession criteria 12 years ago. Most Romanians already considered the Dutch position as simply fueled by hatred towards Roma. The Austrian veto hit so much harder. I expect the next Eurobarometer to be way worse.
2. 23% percent of Romanians considering the EU a bad thing is almost unbelievable to me. Insane statistic in a country where saying anything bad against the EU used to be political suicide. Even the 13% back in 2019 is crazy, but given how long we’ve been waiting to be treated as equals, not completely unexpected.
3. Romania also almost cracked the top 3 when it came to least enthusiastic about the EU, not just hate. For the first time since joining the EU, less than half of Romanians consider it a good thing. To me, this is something I would have never imagined 6 months ago.
4. I’m scared of 2024. It’s pretty clear that Romania will not join Schengen in 2023 – and even if it did, it would feel like pity at this point (& contrary to what some Western Europeans might think, Romanians despise pity to the point where they’d rather starve than accept a piece of bread from someone who humiliated them once).
2024 brings elections on every level – down from mayor of the smallest village to MPs, MEPs & President. So far, the only party that absolutely nailed the PR when it came to the Schengen humiliation was AUR. They’re like AfD & FN, only waaaay more fascist & less overtly pro-Russia (they’re walking an incredibly fine line between licking Putin’s ass and dealing with Romanians’ entrenched hatred of everything Russian). That said, I consider them serious contenders in any election going forward.
5. Can’t help myself but notice how Austria ranks last in EU support, 2^nd to last in EU hatred (after Romania) & 2nd in EU hatred increase (also after Romania). It’s clear that Austrians are fed up with something about the EU (immigration would be my best bet). What’s crazy to me is that their government chose to lash out at Romania & make them their scapegoat, which, in turn, made Romania just as euroskeptic, if not more. I try to stay away from conspiracies, but I wonder who stands to benefit from all this. Clearly, it’s neither Austria, nor Romania.
6. Luxembourg just loves the EU. I don’t know if it’s because they enjoy cross-border workers propping up their economy without actually taking any space or simply just want their insanely high cattle population to travel freely to German, French or Belgian pastures. Nonetheless, I absolutely dig their attitude.
Sources:
– [2019 data](https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/bhyxgv/eurobarometer_spring_2019_generally_speaking_do/)
– [2022 data](https://www.politico.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/12/EP_Autumn_2022__EB042EP_presentation_en.pdf)
Austria!
Much better then I thought
That’s strange, I thought EU is universally loved by Romanians. It seems like I’m not aware of what Romanians really think, maybe I’m living in a disassociated reality.
That’s strange that Belgium fell a bit. If anything I think we profit more from Eu than we contribute.