The war in Ukraine took second place in the list of the most pressing issues that, according to Europeans, are now facing the EU, second only to inflation and the rising cost of living, these are the results of a survey by the American company Povaddo.

Respondents from 14 countries were asked in January this year to name the two most pressing issues currently facing the EU, and the war started by Russia received 32%, while the rising cost of living – 34%.

Rounding out the top three pressing topics is immigration, which was indicated by 37% of survey participants.

The top five most pressing issues also included the general economic situation – 22% and the environment and climate change – 16%.

President and founder of Povaddo, William Stewart, clarified that economic problems are most pressing in Croatia, Greece, Romania, Slovakia, while the war unleashed by Russia was called the main problem not only in Ukraine, but also in Lithuania and Poland.

According to him, immigration is the most sensitive issue for Croatia and the Czech Republic, while the environment and climate change receive much more attention in Western Europe: Belgium, France, Italy and Spain.

"That's not to say that this is the hottest issue of the day in these Western European countries. They are still dominated by economic problems and the war in Ukraine, but in terms of special attention it can be said that people in Belgium, France, Italy and Spain are very, very focused on the environment and climate," Stewart explained.

He also said that the study showed that 55% of respondents believe that the EU is not focused on these most pressing issues of the day, being distracted by less important issues, while only 22% of survey participants held the opposite opinion.

In addition, 63% of respondents also believe that the EU often makes decisions without taking into account potential unintended consequences.

As an example, he cited approaches to regulating the tobacco market, when the obvious successes of the new taxation and health policies of individual countries (the UK and Sweden), which led to a reduction in the number of smokers, are rejected in other countries, which leads to negative results, in particular, the growth of illegal trade.

Overall, the report notes, 56% of those surveyed in January this year believed that things were going in the wrong direction in the EU, while 33% held the opposite view. In relation to their own countries, these votes were distributed as 51% to 37%.

Stewart said that in Bulgaria, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine, the majority of respondents believed that things were going in the right direction.

"This result for Ukraine was probably a little surprising given what's going on. We can come up with our own hypotheses as to why people in Ukraine think things are going in the right direction given what's going on in the country. But, maybe, this is due to the fact that they think they are doing a good (correct) job," Steward said.

The survey was commissioned by Philip Morris International in Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain and Ukraine. In each of these countries, approximately 1,000 people over the age of 18 were surveyed, and the total number of respondents was 14,120.