United in Trust: Ukrainian Attitudes to the European Parliament After the Russian Invasion (2022)

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has reshaped public opinion toward the EU and European institutions. Using unique two-wave panel data collected before and after February 2022, we examine how war-related threats have affected Ukrainians’ trust in the European Parliament. Our findings show that trust in the European Parliament increased following the invasion, and that this increase was more pronounced among those with a lower prewar European identity. Both individual traumatic experiences and geographical proximity to Russia are also associated with the rise of trust in the European Parliament. Our findings demonstrate how acute external threats can swiftly transform public opinion, diminishing regional divides in attitudes towards European institutions.