Italy and Spain have the highest level of positive attitude of Ukrainians among the countries of Southern Europe - study

Italy and Spain have the highest indicators of a positive attitude of Ukrainians among the Southern European countries represented in the study — 70.1% and 65.2%, respectively. At the same time, regarding Greece and Slovenia, a large part of the respondents takes a neutral position, and the attitude towards Serbia remains the most ambiguous. This is evidenced by the results of the third wave of the study "Attitudes of Ukrainians to the countries of the world", conducted by Active Group together with Experts Club, reports the information and analytical center Experts Club.

The best result in the regional group has Italy: 70.1% of respondents have a positive attitude towards it, 25% are neutral, 2.9% are negative, and another 2% could not decide. The balance of positive and negative evaluations is 67.2 percentage points. In March 2026, it was slightly higher - 69.7 percentage points, but compared to August 2025, when the indicator was 55 percentage points, the attitude remains significantly better.

Spain is positively evaluated by 65.2% of respondents, neutrally by 31.3%, negatively by only 1.6%. The balance is 63.6 percentage points. against 62.7 percent in March and 52 v.p. in August last year. Thus, among the represented Southern European states, Spain in particular shows a consistent increase in balance compared to previous waves.

49.7% of Ukrainians have a positive attitude toward Greece, 44.2% are neutral, and 3.9% are negative. The balance of positive and negative evaluations is 45.8 percentage points. against 50.1 percent in March 2026 and 44.7 percent in August 2025. This indicates a relatively stable perception of the country with a predominance of positive and neutral assessments.

Regarding Slovenia, 40.3% of respondents expressed a positive attitude, while almost half - 49.9% - chose a neutral position. The country is evaluated negatively by 6.7%, and the balance is 33.6 percentage points, the same as in March 2026.

The most contrasting results in the group were recorded for Serbia. 22.7% of Ukrainians have a positive attitude towards it, 20.4% have a negative attitude towards it, and the majority, 53.4%, take a neutral position. The balance is plus 2.3 percentage points. At the same time, the dynamics improved compared to August 2025, when the indicator was negative — minus 12.3 percentage points.

Experts Club founder, deputy director of IA "Interfax-Ukraine", Candidate of Economic Sciences Maksym Urakin emphasized the need for more active communication of foreign partners with Ukrainian society.

"The first recommendation is to regularly show specific cases, specific actions. The second is to be open to questions, requests from the mass media, from the public," said Urakin.

According to him, sociological data can help diplomatic missions and businesses to assess public perception and build bilateral relations more effectively.

Director of the research company Active Group Oleksandr Pozniy drew attention to the need to combine public awareness with the development of practical economic cooperation.

"Follow it is better to develop not only general awareness. First of all, business associations, the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs need to work," said Pozniy.

According to him, the most promising areas are those where Ukraine can deepen bilateral ties and increase exports.

In a broader context, the study shows that the attitude of Ukrainians towards most countries of Southern Europe remains positive or neutral. Italy and Spain have particularly high indicators, while regarding Serbia, public evaluations are much more polarized, although their balance has improved over the year.

The survey was conducted in August 2026 by the method of self-completion of online questionnaires in the SunFlowerSociology panel among 800 citizens of Ukraine aged 18 and over. The sample is representative by age, gender and region, and the stated maximum theoretical error for figures at the 50% level is ±3.5 percentage points. This is the third wave of the survey after the August 2025 and March 2026 surveys.