Half of Europeans see Trump as an “Enemy of Europe”

The survey was conducted in nine European countries. The results show that nearly three-quarters of respondents want their country to remain in the European Union, and roughly the same proportion believe that Brexit has harmed the United Kingdom.

According to The Guardian, Jean-Yves Dormagen, a political science professor and founder of the polling institute Cluster 17, said: “Europe is not only facing growing threats but is also witnessing a transformation of its historical, geopolitical, and political environment. The overall picture from the survey is of an anxious Europe that is keenly aware of its vulnerabilities.”

Across the nine countries, an average of 48 percent openly view Trump as an enemy. The figure ranges from 62 percent in Belgium and 57 percent in France to 37 percent in Croatia and 19 percent in Poland.

“Across the continent, Trumpism is clearly perceived as a hostile force,” Dormagen said.

He added that this sentiment is worsening: compared with December 2024, fewer people now describe Trump as “neither a friend nor an enemy,” and more view him as definitively hostile.

Nonetheless, Europeans still consider relations with the United States strategically important. When asked what stance the EU should take toward the U.S. government, the most popular option (48 percent) was compromise.

The survey—conducted in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Croatia, Belgium, and the Netherlands—found that 51 percent believe the risk of an open war with Russia in the coming years is high, and 18 percent believe it is very high.

Dormagen said this result “would have been unimaginable a few years ago and reflects a shift in European public opinion toward a new geopolitical order—one in which the possibility of direct conflict on the continent is widely acknowledged.”

Confidence in national military capabilities was low across all countries: 69 percent of respondents said their country was “not very capable” or “not capable at all” of defending itself against a potential Russian attack.

In France, confidence was slightly higher but still a minority, at 44 percent. In Poland—which shares a border with Russia—58 percent expressed pessimism about their country’s defensive capacity.

“We are entering an age of danger, while experiencing a persistent sense of national weakness,” Dormagen added.

Only 12 percent said they did not feel threatened by current risks.

A strong majority in all nine countries supported remaining in the European Union: 74 percent said they wanted their country to stay in the bloc. Support was highest in Portugal (90 percent) and Spain (89 percent), and lowest in Poland (68 percent) and France (61 percent).

Five years after Brexit, the UK’s decision to leave the EU is widely regarded as a failure: 63 percent said the decision had a negative impact, and only 19 percent viewed it positively—including just 5 percent who called it “very positive.”