TWO-THIRDS OF EUROPEANS THINK THEIR COUNTRIES ARE UNDER THREAT: SURVEY

ISTANBUL, Feb 13 (Bernama-Anadolu) -- Some 68 per cent of Europeans believe their countries are under threat, while 42 per cent say their personal security is at risk, according to a survey released Friday, Anadolu Ajansi reported.

The Flash Eurobarometer 574 survey was conducted by the Brussels-based polling firm Demoscopy ahead of the Munich Security Conference at the request of the European Commission.

The survey found that the highest threat perception was in France, at 80 per cent, followed by the Netherlands and Denmark at 77 per cent and Germany at 75 per cent.

On defence investments, 32 per cent of the respondents believe the European Union has not taken sufficient steps, while 34 per cent say their own countries have fallen short.

However, 52 per cent of Europeans trust the EU to strengthen security and defence, with confidence the highest in Luxembourg at 76 per cent, followed by Portugal at 74 per cent and Lithuania at 71 per cent.

This confidence is lower in the bloc’s three largest members -- Italy, Germany and France -- where 47per cent of Germans and Italians and 40 per cent of French respondents disagree with that view.

Nearly three-quarters of respondents also support the EU’s current defence investment or want it increased, with the strongest backing recorded in Portugal at 89 per cent, followed by Finland at 83 per cent, Lithuania and Spain at 80 per cent and Denmark at 78 per cent.

The Flash Eurobarometer 574 survey was carried out online between Jan. 5 and Jan. 12 with around 27,000 participants across the EU’s 27 member states.

-- BERNAMA-ANADOLU