Survey: Most Romanians want their country to head West, oppose Ro-Exit idea

A survey conducted by INSCOP Research on behalf of Funky Citizens shows that most Romanians believe Romania's political direction should be towards the West, namely pro-EU and pro-NATO. Also, most oppose the idea of a Ro-Exit, but over half think that Romania should defend its national interests when they conflict with the rules of the European Union.

According to 87.5% of respondents, the West (meaning EU, US, NATO) is the direction Romania should take in terms of political and military alliances (compared to 77% in January 2022). Meanwhile, 4.1% believe Romania should move towards the East (Russia, China) - down from 10.4% in January 2022, the survey found.

At the same time, considering all the implications on economic and social life, as well as family and personal life, 72.5% of respondents (compared to 54.9% in January 2022) believe Romania's EU membership has brought more advantages, while 21.6% disagree (down from 40.8% in January 2022). 5.9% either didn't know or didn't answer the question.

The statement "In the future, Romania would develop economically better if it were inside the European Union" is supported by 77.3% of respondents (up from 63.2% in January 2022). On the other hand, 15.8% believe that "in the future, Romania would develop economically better if it were outside the European Union" (down from 29.4% in January 2022), while 6.9% don't know or didn't answer.

More than 80% of survey participants believe that the United States and the European Union have a generally positive influence on Romania (up from 61.8% in September 2021). Meanwhile, only 9% of the sample/population think Russia and China have a generally positive influence on Romania (down from 16.5% in September 2021). The percentage of non-responses is 10.6%.

According to the same survey, 57.1% of Romanians think that Romania should defend its national interests when they conflict with EU rules, even if it risks losing its membership status (down from 68.4% in January 2022). A total of 36.3% believe that, as an EU member state, Romania should adhere to EU rules, even if it affects national interests (up from 29.4% in January 2022).

Another important finding was that 88.1% of Romanians oppose the idea of Romania leaving the European Union - a Ro-Exit (up from 71.7% in January 2022), while 9.4% would support such a perspective (down from 25.2% in January 2022).

Also, 88.1% of respondents believe that Romania should not leave NATO (up from 76.2% in January 2022), while 8.1% answered affirmatively to this question (down from 18.7% in January 2022).