Europeans Fear Immigration More Than Terrorism - Survey

The average negative attitude in the EU toward immigration stands at 59 percent, according to the Eurobarometer.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Immigration has consolidated its top position as the main concern for Europeans in November, an EU poll revealed on Wednesday.

"Immigration has consolidated its place as the most important issue facing the EU for Europeans, and has become the first concern at the national level," the Standard Eurobarometer survey (EB84) stated.

Over 100,000 monthly arrivals were registered as the EB84 gathered its data on November 7-17. The European Commission requests and coordinates the survey.

"The fear of terrorism is also still rising, and terrorism is now seen as the second most important issue facing the EU," Eurobarometer indicated.

Slovakia, Latvia, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Estonia expressed the most opposition to migration from outside the bloc at over 80 percent, with EU-wide negative views at 59 percent. Around 90 percent across the EU support additional measures to combat illegal immigration.

Both indicators represented an increase on previous polling data gathered in spring.

Irregular migration has tested the EU’s unity this year as several frontier member states imposed national border controls to curb an estimated 1.2 million irregular crossings to date.