Europeans don’t want the EU to support neighbouring countries that suffer from internal conflicts

About 38% of Europeans object to the idea of financial help aimed at resolving internal conflicts in the neighbouring countries of the EU, according to a poll titled “The EU’s relations with its neighbours”, conducted by the European Commission. At the same time, a third of the surveyed pleaded in favour of the respective support, and 20% stated such assistance should depend on each case. According to the poll, half of the respondents in France, Belgium and the United Kingdom were against granting financial support. The most receptive were the Cypriots, who are also dealing with an internal conflict – 71% are ready to help. Half of the surveyed from Malta, Denmark and Greece also opted for helping EU’s neighbours. The poll also shows that 63% of Europeans would like EU to limit its relations with the neighbouring countries that don’t show their interest in progressing. The same number of respondents thinks that helping these countries will enable EU to progress as well, while 80% believe that such actions are too expensive for EU. EU participates as an observer in the talks concerning the resolution of the Transnistrian conflict in the format “5+2”. At the same time, Brussels finances the Assistance Mission at the Moldovan-Ukrainian border, supporting as well other actions aimed at conflict resolution strategies.