Portugal is the European country that would most support taking on debt to finance Defense and where popular support for investment in this sector has increased the most since 2025, according to a survey released this Wednesday.
In a survey released by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) carried out in 15 European countries, Portugal appears as the country that would most accept taking on common debt to finance Defense, with 59% of respondents supporting this proposal, placing the country ahead of others such as Denmark (56%), the Netherlands (55%) or Spain (53%).
The survey, which analyzes European public opinion regarding the US security guarantee, the war in Ukraine and autonomy in matters of security and defense, points out that, in general terms, the Portuguese are those who would most support an increase in defense budget to reduce dependence on the USA.
In 2025, around 26% of Portuguese respondents supported this budget increasebut the value rose to 42% this year, placing Portugal well above the average (which rose from 18% to 22% in 2026), on par with Denmark (42%) and just behind the United Kingdom (43%) and Poland, which rose from 51% to 59%.
According to the survey, the majority of Europeans want to reduce their dependence on the USA in terms of security and only in Poland do the majority of voters “consider it a good idea to acquire more North American weapons”.
The person responsible for the ECFR polls, Pawel Zerka, stated that the poll demonstrated that, “in a context of criticism and aggressive behavior from the (American President Donald) Trump administration”, Europeans “have become increasingly pragmatic in relation to their own security”.
Portugal is also one of the countries that most supports the sending of national troops for a peacekeeping mission in Ukraine after the end of the conflict, coming in fourth with 53%, just behind Sweden (61%), Spain (55%) and Denmark (54%), contrasting with the majority of citizens from other countries who oppose this possibility.
The Portuguese (50%) are also those who most support the idea of enlarging the European Union (EU) eastward, including Ukraine, followed by Spain (43%) and Sweden (42%). Portugal is one of the countries with a positive opinion from Kievwith 37% of Portuguese people seeing Ukraine as an “ally” and 35% as a “necessary partner”.
Only 29% want an alternative to NATO
The way the Portuguese look at the United States and the Administration of the North American President, Donald Trump, also followed the European average, with 58% of respondents saying they believe that relations will improve with Washington after the departure of Trump of the White House.
The co-author of the survey and director of the European Security Program, Jana Kobzova, argued that across the European continent there was “clear support for reducing dependence on Washington”.
“Europeans are increasingly open to increased defense spending and, crucially, demonstrate a remarkable level of confidence that neighboring countries would come to their aid in a crisis. Our research also shows that, although Europeans continue to support Ukraine, in the current context there is no public consensus for the country’s accession to the EU,” he said.
As for NATO, only 29% of all respondents in these 15 countries would be in favor of an alternative defense organization to the Atlantic Alliance, but, among those in favor, Portugal leads: 38% of Portuguese consider the creation of an alternative defense organization to NATO to be a “very good” or “good” idea, followed by the Spanish (37%), Swedes (35%) and Italians (35%).
With regard to energy, 47% of Portuguese people argued that it would be a “bad idea” to resume imports from Russia and only 17% would defend the return of imports.
More than 18,000 citizens over the age of 18 were surveyed from Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In Portugal, 1003 people were interviewed between the 1st and 19th of May, with the study having a margin of error of 4.19%.
