Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine public support for Nato membership has been increasing in countries across Europe.
YouGov has been surveying Europeans’ attitudes towards Nato since the start of the invasion. Respondents in Spain expressed the highest support for their country’s membership of Nato, with an 11 percentage point increase in support.
More significant are the countries which are not yet in Nato. Data from the independent Finnish market research company Taloustutkimus found that support for Finland joining Nato increased by nine percentage points in the same time period. In Sweden there has been an eight percentage point increase in support since March 2019.
The countries have historically been cool towards Nato, but heightened security concerns have pushed their governments to consider giving up their neutrality. This is of particular strategic concern to Moscow since Finland shares a 1,340km land border with Russia. The Finnish prime minister, Sanna Marin, told reporters at a joint news conference in Stockholm with the Swedish prime minister, Magdalena Andersson, that a decision on Nato membership could be made within “within weeks not within months”.
[See also: Will Sweden join Nato?]
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