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Rallying around the EU flag: Russia's invasion of Ukraine and attitudes toward European integration

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  • Steiner, Nils D.
  • Berlinschi, Ruxanda
  • Farvaque, Étienne
  • Fidrmuc, Jan
  • Harms, Philipp
  • Mihailov, Alexander
  • Neugart, Michael
  • Stanek, Piotr

Abstract

This paper uses a survey among students at European universities to explore whether Russia's invasion of Ukraine has affected attitudes toward European integration. Some respondents completed the survey just before Russia's assault on February 24, 2022, and some did so just afterwards, thus delivering a quasi-experimental design situation, which we exploit. Our results suggest that the ominous news about the Russian attack increased the participants' interest in EU politics, consolidated their attachment to the EU, and made them more mindful and appreciative of the benefits of deeper European integration. In effect, the war so close to the EU Eastern border provoked a rally around the supranational EU flag, with convergence of public opinion toward shared European values.

Suggested Citation

  • Steiner, Nils D. & Berlinschi, Ruxanda & Farvaque, Étienne & Fidrmuc, Jan & Harms, Philipp & Mihailov, Alexander & Neugart, Michael & Stanek, Piotr, 2022. "Rallying around the EU flag: Russia's invasion of Ukraine and attitudes toward European integration," BOFIT Discussion Papers 9/2022, Bank of Finland Institute for Emerging Economies (BOFIT).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:bofitp:bdp2022_009
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    Cited by:

    1. Mihai Alexandrescu, 2024. "Beyond Geopolitics: Unraveling Public Support for Economic Sanctions in the B9 States at the Beginning of the Ukrainian War (2022)," SAGE Open, , vol. 14(3), pages 21582440241, August.
    2. Zakharov, Alexei & Chapkovski, Philipp, 2025. "The effect of war on redistribution preferences," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 241(C).
    3. Jerg Gutmann & Hans Pitlik & Andrea Fronaschütz, 2023. "Has the Russian invasion of Ukraine reinforced anti-globalization sentiment in Austria?," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 50(2), pages 289-299, May.
    4. Liesbet Hooghe & Gary Marks & Ryan Bakker & Seth Jolly & Jonathan Polk & Jan Rovny & Marco Steenbergen & Milada Anna Vachudova, 2024. "The Russian threat and the consolidation of the West: How populism and EU-skepticism shape party support for Ukraine," European Union Politics, , vol. 25(3), pages 459-482, September.
    5. Maria Hierro & Adolfo Maza, 2024. "A Capacity‐Based Approach for Assessing Changes in Responsibility Sharing in the EU: Comparing the Syrian and Ukrainian Refugee Crises," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(6), pages 1734-1746, November.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    European integration; attitudes; external threat; rally around the flag; Ukraine; Russia;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F02 - International Economics - - General - - - International Economic Order and Integration
    • F5 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy
    • H77 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Intergovernmental Relations; Federalism
    • N44 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Europe: 1913-
    • Z18 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Public Policy

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