site.btaEurobarometer: Approval Among Bulgarians for Common EU Foreign Policy Increases to 62%

A considerable amount of Bulgarian citizens perceive the EU as an influential economic organisation internationally, according to data in the national report on Bulgaria from the 100th edition of the Standard Eurobarometer, conducted between October 23 and November 17, 2023. The report was made public Wednesday by the Sofia representation of the European Commission.

More than three quarters of Bulgarians (75% compared to the EU average of 69%) believe that the Union has enough power and means to defend Europe's interests on the international economic stage.

Positive attitudes in Bulgaria towards the European Union remain higher than the European average (Bulgaria - 51%; EU - 44%), while confidence in Bulgaria's national institutions - parliament and government - is 21% and 24% respectively.

In general, Bulgarian citizens support EU-wide policies and decisions, but to a significantly lower extent compared to the EU average.

A considerable majority of Bulgarian respondents agree with the need to invest massively in renewable energy (67%). Increasing the energy efficiency of buildings, transport and goods and reducing dependence on energy imports from outside the EU receive high support (74%). There is also agreement on reducing oil and gas imports and investing in renewable energy (61%).

There is growing approval among Bulgarians for a common EU foreign policy (62%) and two thirds of respondents approve of a common policy in the area of defence and security. At the same time, only 53% of Bulgarians approve of EU action to defend its common values, compared to an EU average of 75%. The illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine is recognised as a threat to national security by more than half of Bulgarians (56% vs. 78% EU average). 

Bulgarians are significantly less likely to say that they come across unreliable or fake news than EU citizens (Bulgaria - 51%; EU - 68%). At the same time, trust in social media as a source of news content is growing in Bulgaria - 70% of Bulgarians believe that social media is a modern way to be informed about current political events, while only 54% say they trust traditional national media. In terms of the harm of misinformation to democracy in general, Bulgarian public opinion is in line with the European average, but again shows a downward trend: 78% of people in Bulgaria say misinformation is harmful to democracy, down 5% from the previous survey, while in the EU their share of 81% remains unchanged.