For Romanians, the defense of national interests is vital, but the national interest is to stay in the EU

Romanians want the country to defend its national interests within the Union when they are at odds with EU rules, but at the same time say it is in Romania's national interest to remain in the EU, according to a large sociological survey conducted by INSCOP Research (www.inscop.ro) at the end of December, after the cancellation of the presidential elections.

57.1% of Romanians consider that Romania must defend its national interests when they disagree with EU rules, even if it risks losing its position as an EU member state (compared to 68.4% in January 2022). 36.3% believe that, as a member state, Romania must respect EU rules, even when its national interests are at stake (compared to 29.4% in January 2022). 6.6% do not know or do not answer.

On the other hand, the vast majority of those with more "nationalist" views firmly reject the idea of leaving the European Union, associating membership with the country's national interest. Of those who believe that Romania must defend its national interests when it disagrees with the rules of the European Union, even if it risks losing its position as an EU member state (which represents 57.1% of the total sample in December 2024), 88.4% believe that it is in Romania's national interest to remain in the European Union (compared to 72.9% in January 2022). 8.5% are of the opposite opinion (compared to 24.7% in January 2022). 3.1% do not know or do not answer.

From this perspective, the greatest contradiction can be observed between the pro-European views of the population (almost 90% of Romanians) and the hostile messages against the European Union issued by political-mystical voices with a radical-populist message that turn into mouthpieces of Russia's subversive narratives, completely disconnected from the perceptions of Romanians and their own voters who believe that it is in the national interest for Romania to be part of the European Union.

Methodology

The poll was conducted by INSCOP Reasearch on behalf of Funky Citizens

Data was collected between December 16 and December 23, 2024

Research method: sociological questionnaire survey

Data were collected using the CATI method (telephone interviews), the stratified multi-stage sample volume was 1000 persons, representative by significant socio-demographic categories (sex, age, occupation) for the non-institutionalized population of Romania, aged 18 years and over.

Maximum permissible error of the data is ± 3.1%, at a confidence level of 95%.

The comparative data for June, September 2021 and January 2022 were extracted from the study "Public distrust: West vs. East, the rise of the nationalist current in the era of misinformation and fake news" conducted by INSCOP Research on behalf of the think-tank STRATEGIC Thinking Group in the framework of a research project supported by The German Marshal Fund of the United States - and funded by the Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation through the True Story Project.