74% of Greeks disapprove of government's handling of Ukraine crisis, majority want Greece to be neutral

Seventy-four percent of Greeks are dissatisfied with the government's handling of the Ukraine crisis according to a poll.

According to a poll conducted by Public Issue in April, when asked how satisfied with the government's stance on the Ukraine issue, 74% of polled people said they were dissatisfied, while 23% said satisfied.

In March, 68% of people said they were unsatisfied while 29% said they were satisfied, marking a significant shift in opinion in only a matter of weeks.

This is an unsurprising shift since most people (at least 66%) were against sending weapons to Ukraine, fearing that they could end up in the hands of the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion that have been persecuting ethnic Greeks in Mariupol since 2014.

This was then followed by a Greek member of the the Azov Battalion being platformed in Greek Parliament, something that received widespread condemnation across Greece.

When asked what Greece's position in the Ukraine War should be, 20% said with Ukraine, 4% said with Russia and 71% said neutral.

In the same poll conducted in March, 26% said Greece should side with Ukraine, 3% said with Russia and 65% said neutral - once again demonstrating that in a matter of weeks even more Greeks are moving towards neutrality.

When asked if they were impressed with Zelensky's speech in parliament, 50% of respondents said "very bad", 15% said "bad", 16% said "neutral", 7% said "good" and 4% said "very good."

Public Issue conducted a quantitative online survey with a sample of 1,000 people aged 17 and over - April 2022.

Athens is not planning to send more military equipment to Ukraine, Greek Defence Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos said last week.

He said Greece’s defence of its own territory should not be weakened, particularly on islands, by sending more weapons.

“The defence equipment we sent to Ukraine came from our stocks. There is no issue of sending more,” he told Greek lawmakers in a parliamentary discussion.

The Greek government has already sent to Ukraine two C-130 transport aircraft loaded with military aid, such as Kalashnikov rifles and portable rocket launchers.

According to the poll conducted by MEGA TV weeks ago, 66% of Greeks disagree with sending military equipment to Ukraine, and 29% agree with the government’s decision.

Panagiotopoulos also referred to the relations with Turkey, saying, “This is not the best time to talk against Turkey in NATO because the allies want to ensure that Turkey remains attached to NATO”.

READ MORE: Greek Azov Battalion member killed fighting Russian forces in Mariupol.