Maltese people have become increasingly less positive about providing aid to developing countries, in many cases showing the greatest decline in agreement with the prioritisation of foreign aid of all EU states, a special Eurobarometer survey has found.

The study surveyed the attitudes of European citizens about foreign aid and development cooperation and how financial assistance can serve to reduce inequality and tackle irregular migration, as well as strengthen the European Union’s global influence.

The survey found that Malta represented the largest decline of respondents who thought that tackling poverty in developing countries should be one of the priorities of the EU (67% - down by 15 percentage points) or that of their national government (48% - down by 10 percentage points), more than any other member state.

An increasing number of Maltese people were of the opinion that tackling poverty in developing countries was not in the EU’s own interest (declined by nine points to 75%), while with a decline of six points, only 78% of people agreed that providing financial assistance for developing countries contributed to a more peaceful and fairer world.

In both these instances, Maltese people showed the largest decline among any member state.

Less Maltese people think that providing financial assistance to developing countries was effective in addressing irregular migration, representing a decline of six points since 2018.

Maltese repondents were also less enthused about increasing spending on developing countries. Only 34% of Maltese people thought that spending should increase while 43% thought it should remain the same.

A total 71% of the population agreed that providing financial assistance to developing countries was an effective measure in strengthening the EU’s influence in the world while more than three quarter of Maltese respondents said that providing financial assistance to developing countries was effective was of reducing inequalities in these countries.

Both these values proved to be slightly above the EU averages, which sat at 70% and 69% respectively.

The majority of Maltese respondents thought that water and sanitation were the most pressing challenges for developing countries (45%), while they are far less likely to mention peace and security (19% – down 15 percentage points) or education (40% – down 10 percentage points).