At first glance, a very encouraging result. Thus, support by Latvian residents for their country's membership in the EU has grown to 37% (data from the SKDS public opinion research center), while 40% here were neutral towards the European Union. In Germany, according to Eurostat, 47% of respondents trust the EU (for comparison, last year's figures did not exceed 35%), and the number of "Euro-optimists" in eastern Germany even reached 50%, with most of them being young people under 35. The most oriented towards a united Europe were Hungarians (61%) and Belgians (65%), while the least trusting of the EU were the Dutch (22%) and the British (18%).
When asked about the advisability of adopting a European constitution, on the contrary, the majority of the 24 thousand Europeans surveyed answered negatively. Sociologists are currently talking about the so-called "European paradox": on the one hand, EU residents recognize the European Union as a very viable and useful entity, while on the other, they consider the adoption of the EU constitution an unnecessary step.
From the ranks of "skeptical" countries, only Germany stands out, where 75% of respondents support the idea of a European constitution, and Spain, where on the eve of the referendum on February 20 on the adoption of this document, about 80% of respondents spoke "for". The most "anti-constitutional" turned out to be the French: here only about 20% of citizens currently approve of this idea.
Not the most encouraging figures, given that 12 EU countries have put the question of adopting the European constitution to a referendum, and it is enough for just one country not to ratify the draft basic law of the EU – and the entire idea can be considered failed. The reasons for such a strange situation at first glance are subject to careful research, but some very alarming parallels can already be traced.
The fact is that simultaneously (although not in connection) with the Eurobarometer polls, several leading sociological services in Europe published the results of studies on the growth of nationalist sentiments in EU countries. These data not only show that nationalist sentiments in the European Union continue to grow, but also surprisingly almost completely coincide geographically with the growth of pro-European sentiments.
In the same Latvia, the main opponents of EU membership, according to the SKDS service, are non-Latvians: they feel their rights are infringed, although they believe that the adoption of the EU constitution could ease their situation. On the other hand, a survey of veterans of the Latvian Legion of the Waffen SS convincingly demonstrates the "European paradox": 100% of respondents consider Latvia's entry into the EU a blessing, while believing that the adoption of the European constitution is a harmful and unnecessary matter.
A similar situation is developing in other European countries – both "old" and newcomers. Thus, Polish nationalists from "Samoobrona" have recently almost ceased their anti-European rhetoric, throwing all their efforts into attacking the European Constitution.
In Germany, after the number of unemployed officially exceeded the five million mark, sociologists recorded a sharp increase in the number of so-called "protest voters". A weekly survey by the EMNID institute, conducted immediately after the publication of data on record unemployment, showed that if elections to the Bundestag were held right now, about 15% of voters would vote for neo-Nazis. A horrifying result!
However, Germany still constitutes some exception to the general rule: just a week later, a repeat survey gave a completely opposite result: neo-Nazis in Germany still cannot count on more than 3% of the votes. Apparently, the prudent Bundesbürger managed to calm down in a week.
A different situation in Belgium: the nationalist party Vlaams Block is steadily gaining momentum here, attracting more and more voters to its side. At the same time, they are all convinced supporters of a common Europe.
Thus, the current support of Europeans for the EU may be dictated by completely different "universal" motives than those that have habitually explained the success of a united Europe so far. And that means Euro-officials of all ranks should not forget the old saying: "Tell me who your friend is, and I will tell you who you are."