From Local to Global? Assessing European Solidarity through the Lens of Ukraine Aid

Solidarity implies mutual acceptance and a willingness to cooperate and support others. This raises a central question: solidarity with whom? We examine how the boundaries of solidarity and expectations of reciprocity in Europe help explain reactions to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. We develop four solidarity profiles capturing the level and radius of solidarity and compare them using survey data from 16 EU countries. ‘General Humanitarians,’ who draw few distinctions, show the strongest support for aid to Ukraine. ‘National Europeanists’ and ‘EU Aid Givers,’ who treat the EU as a primary community of solidarity, also express high support for aid to Ukraine, whereas ‘Nationalist Aid Givers’ are markedly less supportive. Crucially, support is strongly related to expectations of help from other EU countries, shaped by perceived benefits and knowledge about the EU. Finally, we show that humanitarian values can increase support independently of reciprocity expectations.