≈74%
hold a negative view of the U.S. across the EU27
Eurobarometer · Mar–Apr 2026
Public opinion · EU27
Broadly negative.
Still transactional.
Europe’s view of the United States has shifted from alliance by default to cooperation by necessity. The U.S. image is poor across most of the EU, confidence in current U.S. leadership is lower still, and support for greater European security autonomy is rising.
This site does not blend unlike questions into a made-up “sentiment score.” It lets you switch among image, direction, leadership, reliability, national interests and policy handling, with source coverage shown for every measure.
78%
say the U.S. is going in the wrong direction
Eurobarometer · EU27
11%
call the U.S. an ally; 50% call it a necessary partner
ECFR · 15 European countries
20%
approve of U.S. leadership across the EU
Gallup · 2025 fieldwork
Interactive atlas
Country by country
Select a question, then click a country. Eurobarometer provides a common baseline for all 27 members. Pew adds deeper 2026 measures for nine EU countries.
Negative view of the United States
Total “somewhat negative” + “very negative.” Standard Eurobarometer 105, March–April 2026.
Lower50%Higher
Colored tile = source includes country
Tile geography is schematic
Romania
only EU member with a majority-positive U.S. image
54% positive, 39% negative in Eurobarometer.
85%
negative in Denmark and the Netherlands
The highest negative-image readings in the EU27 table.
+29 pp
Slovakia’s six-month rise in negative views
The largest deterioration since autumn 2025.
Sentiment anatomy
Negative does not mean disengaged
Across sources, Europeans distinguish between liking the U.S., trusting its current leadership, needing it as a partner and depending on it for defense.
Relationship model
Two different questions produce the same structural answer: affinity is weak, but strategic disengagement is not the majority position.
Image of the U.S.EU27 · Eurobarometer
24% positive73% negative
What the U.S. is to Europe15-country European sample · ECFR
11%50% necessary partner25% rival / adversary14%
Security implicationECFR · May 2026
Majorities in every ECFR country surveyed said the U.S. would not support them if attacked. Most also wanted to reduce security dependence on Washington, but only 29% supported replacing NATO with a Europe-only organization.
Current policy drivers
Median disapproval across the nine EU countries in Pew’s 2026 sample. These are policy ratings, not general favorability.
Tariffs
86%
Trump overall: no confidence
83%
Gaza handling
80%
Russia–Ukraine handling
79%
Humanitarian aid
64%
Country patterns
Four useful reads
01 · Hardest skepticism
Northern and western members set the negative ceiling
Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden and Belgium all record negative U.S. images above 80%. Their “wrong direction” readings are even higher.
DK 85%NL 85%DE 84%SE 84%BE 82%
02 · Less negative east
Central and eastern Europe is not one pro-U.S. bloc
Romania is the clear positive outlier. Poland and Hungary are less negative than the EU average, while Slovakia and Slovenia sit near the skeptical western group.
RO 39%PL 50%HU 54%SK 77%SI 78%
03 · Fast deterioration
The sharpest change is not confined to western Europe
Negative opinion rose most in Slovakia, Greece, Malta, Lithuania and the Baltic region. The shift is broad, not just a France–Germany story.
SK +29GR +27MT +25LT +24EE/LV +22
04 · Pragmatic outliers
Hungary and Poland still see a usable partner
They are the only EU countries in Pew’s sample where majorities call the U.S. reliable. Yet majorities in both still disapprove of Trump’s tariff policy.
HU reliable 65%PL reliable 57%HU tariffs 61% disapprovePL 66%
Direct comparison
Put two countries side by side
All EU27 members can be compared on image and direction. The six deeper trust and policy rows appear only when both countries were in Pew’s sample.
Full ranking
Every EU member
The ranking follows the metric selected in the atlas. Select a row to open that country profile.
| # | Country | Measure | Value | Change | Coverage |
|---|
Evidence and limits
What the site is built from
The most recent comparable cross-country datasets available by 31 July 2026. Fieldwork dates matter more than publication dates.
12 Mar–5 Apr 2026
Standard Eurobarometer 105
26,415 face-to-face interviews across all 27 EU members. Provides the common country baseline: positive/negative image and whether the U.S. is going in the right or wrong direction.
EU dataset ↗8 Feb–13 May 2026
Pew Global Attitudes
42,151 adults in 36 countries. This site uses nine EU members for deeper measures: U.S. favorability, Trump confidence, reliability, interests, peace and policy handling.
Pew report ↗May 2026
ECFR European polling
19,481 respondents in 15 European countries, including 13 EU members. Supplies the ally / necessary partner / rival framing and the security-autonomy findings.
ECFR report ↗2025 fieldwork
Gallup World Poll
Used only for the EU-wide leadership benchmark: 20% approval of U.S. leadership, close to prior lows during the first Trump and George W. Bush administrations.
Gallup analysis ↗Do not read small cross-source differences as movement. Eurobarometer and Pew use different wording, samples, field periods and interview modes. For example, “positive view,” “favorable opinion,” “reliable partner” and “ally” are separate constructs. The interface keeps them separate and marks countries not covered by a source. The Eurobarometer detailed annex reports 73% total negative EU27, while the Commission summary reports 74%; the hero therefore uses “≈74%.” Percentages may not sum to 100 because of rounding and nonresponse.