Do Europeans want US nuclear weapons in their countries? What a new poll found

Many Europeans are opposed to the U.S. stationing nuclear weapons in their countries, according to new polling. However, there is little appetite on the continent for countries obtaining their own supply of weapons.

In a YouGov survey, a majority of respondents in seven Western European nations said they were against American weapons of mass destruction being kept in their country.

Opposition was the strongest in Spain, where 76% of respondents objected, followed by Sweden and Denmark, where 73% and 63%, respectively, objected.

In Britain and France — the sole European countries with their own nuclear arsenals — 61% of respondents said they were against U.S. nuclear weapons in their country.

In Italy and Germany — the only countries included in the survey where U.S. nuclear weapons are currently stationed — 63% and 59% of respondents, respectively, were opposed to this.

The poll — which sampled a total of 9,419 adults April 4-17 — also asked respondents whether they support or oppose home-grown nuclear weapons programs.

It found that in all five countries that do not have their own nuclear weapons, opposition surpassed support.

For example, in Sweden, 53% of respondents said they were against their country developing its own nuclear arsenal, while 28% said they were in favor. Similarly, 49% of German respondents said they were opposed, while 34% were in favor.

The responses were more divided in Denmark — with 39% opposed and 36% in favor — and in Spain, with 45% opposed and 37% in favor.

In the two European countries that have already their own weapons, support for maintaining them was high, according to the poll, which has a margin of error between 2% and 3.1%.

In France, 64% of respondents said they support their country having nuclear weapons, while just 17% said they were opposed. And in Britain, 55% were in favor, while 27% were against.

The poll — which included all NATO members — comes as President Donald Trump has questioned America’s commitment to defending its European allies. He has cited some members not following the NATO guideline of paying 2% of their GDP toward defense.

“If they don’t pay, I’m not going to defend them,” he told reporters at the White House in March, according to Reuters. “No, I’m not going to defend them.”

In response, some European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, have discussed moving toward greater European defense autonomy.