Welcoming Refugees from Ukraine in the European Union: Does Solidarity Matter?
Welcoming Refugees from Ukraine in the European Union: Does Solidarity Matter?

Summary/Abstract: Full-scale Russian aggression against Ukraine in February 2022 has triggered a large influx of refugees into the countries of the European Union. Against the backdrop of this new refugee crisis, we analyse the correlates of attitudes towards welcoming refugees from Ukraine in the EU. Theoretically, we draw on some of the main frameworks used to study attitudes. In addition, we examine the value of solidarity that is expected to positively influence the welcoming of refugees. Europeans appear to be overwhelmingly favourable towards accepting Ukrainian refugees, but the attitude is more positive in the “old” EU member states. Using multilevel binominal logistic regression on crossnational Eurobarometer data, we find that people who experience economic scarcity and those who are worse off in the labour market are more likely to be against accepting refugees. A key finding is that a commitment to solidarity as a personal value is associated with a more favourable attitude towards accepting Ukrainian refugees in the EU. At the country level, the border with Ukraine (or with a country directly bordering Ukraine) is associated with a more exclusionary attitude, reflecting the extent to which an actual and potential large influx of asylum-seekers can be seen as a threat.

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