Only one in ten Europeans sees the US as an ally

Europeans' trust in American "security guarantees" is at an all-time low, with only one in ten respondents in the 15 countries surveyed seeing the US as an ally, and most doubting that the country would come to their aid if they were attacked.

A survey by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) released ahead of key G7 and NATO summits in France and Turkey in the coming weeks has revealed "deep European distrust of the US," the authors told the British Guardian today.

The survey also showed that Europeans, although many think that relations with the US will improve once Donald Trump leaves the White House, are increasingly willing to protect themselves from US unreliability by encouraging European defense.

The report points out that growing European pragmatism is also fueled by American aggression in the Middle East, threats to Greenland, calls for the withdrawal of troops from European bases, and skepticism about the future of NATO.

"There is clear support across the continent for reducing dependence on Washington," co-author of the study, Yana Kobzova, told The Guardian. She added that Europeans are increasingly open to higher defense spending and, crucially, show a high level of trust that neighboring countries would help them in a crisis.

Another co-author, Pavel Zerka, also from the ECFR, said that the public's clear demand for greater autonomy and the need for assurances from American security guarantees "opened a window for European leaders to go further and faster" on security.

A survey conducted in May, which included Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, showed that today, on average, only 11 percent of respondents see the United States as an ally.

Six months ago, the US was seen as an ally by 16 percent, and in November last year, by 22 percent of respondents.

The prevailing view now is that the US is an indispensable partner, although 13 percent of those surveyed see it as a rival and 12 percent as a direct adversary.

Majorities in all countries no longer believe that the US would help them in the event of an attack and, except in Bulgaria, most think that at least a few European countries would help them in the event of a need.

The survey also found that 47 percent of respondents support joint EU borrowing to finance greater defense spending, while 35 percent oppose it. Support is highest in Portugal, Denmark and the Netherlands, at more than 50 percent.

Also in almost all countries, the majority of respondents think that their country should reduce strategic dependence on American military equipment, with support for "buy European" being highest in Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden - more than 70 percent.

However, there is significantly less support for the idea of ​​reducing domestic public spending to pay for larger national defense budgets, with opposition highest in Italy (63 percent), Austria (59 percent) and Germany (56 percent), the British daily reported.

There is also little support, 29 percent, for the idea of ​​replacing NATO with a new, exclusively EU defense body, and in all countries except Bulgaria, the dominant view is that relations between the US and Europe will likely improve after Trump.

The survey also showed that, despite rising energy costs, 44 percent of Europeans think it would be a bad or very bad idea to continue importing oil and gas from Russia.

When it comes to Ukraine's ambition to join the EU, Europeans are divided, with respondents in Hungary, Bulgaria, Austria, Germany, and even Estonia, one of Kiev's staunchest supporters, more inclined to oppose Ukraine's EU accession, "in the current context," than to support it.