71% of Europeans back EU army as faith in US security guarantee erodes

Majorities across all 11 EU member states surveyed want the bloc to field its own army, with 71% of respondents backing the idea in GLOBSEC's 2026 Trends report — a finding that coincides with deepening doubts about Washington's reliability.

Support was highest in Romania at 82%, followed by Lithuania at 78% and France at 75%. Even in countries traditionally cautious about European defence integration, majorities endorsed the concept: Poland and Bulgaria at 70% each, Germany at 69%.

The poll, covering 14 countries in the transatlantic space — 11 EU member states, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States — found that enthusiasm for a European army did not translate into opposition to NATO. Some 77% of respondents in NATO countries said they would vote to remain members, and 78% of EU respondents supported developing European defence capabilities alongside the alliance.

Demand for conscription was equally striking: among respondents in countries without compulsory military service, 64% favoured its reintroduction, with the highest numbers in Czechia, France, Germany and Slovakia.

The survey exposed a sharper transatlantic fault line. More than one-third of respondents across European countries now regard the United States as a security threat, rising to roughly half in Germany, France and Britain. Germany was the only country where a majority held that view.

Germany also stood apart on Ukraine. Some 40% of German respondents agreed that Ukraine's treatment of Russian speakers justified Russia's invasion, and 39% believed the West had provoked the war. Just over half considered Ukraine's fight important to German security, while nearly six in ten would accept Ukrainian territorial concessions in exchange for peace.