Nearly three in four Europeans support the creation of a European Union army, according to the GLOBSEC Trends 2026 survey published this week, in one of the clearest signs yet of how Russia's war in Ukraine and doubts about the United States' long-term commitment to Europe are reshaping public opinion across the continent.

Source: The Independent

The survey, carried out by the Bratislava-based think tank GLOBSEC across 14 countries in the transatlantic space — 11 European Union member states, plus Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States — found 71 percent of respondents backing a united European army. GLOBSEC is a non-partisan security-policy think tank, and its annual Trends report is widely used by European governments to gauge public attitudes on security.

Source: Politico Europe via Daily Guardian Europe

Support is strongest on Europe's eastern flank

Support for a European army was highest in Romania, at 82 percent, followed by Lithuania at 78 percent and France at 75 percent. Latvia recorded 73 percent, Estonia 71 percent, and Bulgaria and Poland 70 percent each. In Germany, historically more wary of deeply integrated defence, around 69 percent supported a European army — a striking figure for a country that for decades resisted pooling military sovereignty.

The enthusiasm for European military power did not read as a rejection of NATO. Some 77 percent of respondents in the NATO countries surveyed said they would vote to remain members of the alliance, while 78 percent of respondents in EU countries supported developing the bloc's own defence capabilities alongside NATO, Politico reported. In other words, most Europeans want both: the American-led alliance kept, and a European pillar strong enough to stand on its own if Washington steps back.

Drafts and nuclear weapons also win backing

The poll also found strong support for the most direct form of contribution to national defence: among respondents in countries without compulsory military service, 64 percent favoured reintroducing a draft, with the highest figures in Czechia, France, Germany and Slovakia. A significant share of respondents also said more EU countries should develop nuclear weapons to strengthen Europe's security, with majorities in Poland (61 percent), Ukraine (57 percent), France (53 percent) and the United Kingdom (51 percent); in Germany, 41 percent backed more nuclear weapons in Europe.

The findings land as European governments debate how to strengthen their militaries amid Russia's continued aggression in Ukraine and growing uncertainty over the United States' commitment to European security, with reports in recent months suggesting Washington could withdraw up to one third of its forces stationed in Europe. They also arrive in the middle of US-brokered Ukraine peace talks, in which Europe has just secured a seat at the next round — a negotiation European leaders fear could otherwise settle the continent's security order over their heads.

EU leaders are expected to discuss defence integration again at the December European Council. For now, the GLOBSEC numbers give those leaders something they have rarely had on this question: a clear public mandate, recorded country by country, at a moment when the war in Ukraine and the transatlantic debate have made European defence the continent's defining political question.