Half of Europeans See Trump as an 'Adversary'... "Still, Compromise Is Needed"

48% in Nine EU Countries View Trump as an Adversary
51% Say "Risk of War with Russia Is High"

According to a recent poll, nearly half of Europeans consider Donald Trump, President of the United States, to be an "adversary."

Donald Trump, President of the United States. Photo by EPA Yonhap News

On December 4 (local time), the British daily The Guardian and AFP reported that the French international affairs magazine Le Grand Continent commissioned the polling agency Cluster 17 to survey perceptions of President Trump. The results showed that 48% of respondents viewed President Trump as an "adversary." The survey included a total of 9,553 participants from nine countries: France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland, Portugal, Croatia, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

By country, the proportion of respondents who considered President Trump an adversary was particularly high in Belgium (62%), France (57%), Spain (53%), and Italy (50%). In contrast, the sentiment was less pronounced in Croatia (37%) and Poland (19%).

Despite these negative views of President Trump, many respondents still recognized the strategic importance of relations with the United States. When asked what stance the European Union should take toward the U.S. government, the most common response was "compromise," with 48% choosing this option.

More than half of respondents also believed there is a significant risk of war with Russia. Specifically, 51% said the risk of war was "high" or "very high."

However, the sense of crisis regarding war varied by country. In Poland, which shares a border with Russia, 77% said the risk of war was high. In more distant countries such as Portugal (39%) and Italy (34%), the perceived risk was lower.

When asked whether their national military would be capable of defending against a Russian invasion, 69% of all respondents expressed a negative view. France, the only nuclear-armed country among those surveyed, had the highest proportion of respondents who believed in their country's defensive capability, but even there, the figure was only 44%, falling short of a majority.

Regarding the possibility of war with China, which is geographically distant, an overwhelming 81% said there was "no possibility."

Meanwhile, 74% of respondents said they wanted their country to remain a member of the European Union. Regarding the United Kingdom's decision to leave the EU (Brexit), 63% said it had a negative impact on the UK.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.