Maltese youths mostly concerned about migration, environment, security
Eurobarometer survey shows young people elsewhere in Europe are most worried about defence
More than a quarter of young people in Malta want the EU to prioritise tackling irregular migration, according to a recent survey.
Some 27% of Maltese respondents between the ages of 16 and 30 said they wanted to see irregular migration prioritised at an EU level, making the issue the greatest concern for youths in Malta.
Asked to select up to three topics for the EU to focus on, young people in Malta opted for irregular migration, according to the EU Challenges and Priorities: Young People’s Views Eurobarometer survey.
Other issues often highlighted by Maltese youths included the environment and climate change (25%), security and defence (21%), public health (19%) and jobs and social equality (16%).
While the proportion of young people in Malta worried about irregular migration mirrored those of their counterparts in the EU, where 26% of young people listed it among their top concerns, elsewhere in Europe they were most concerned about defence, with almost a third (31%) selecting it as a priority for the bloc.
Like Malta, the average young person in the EU was also concerned about the environment (27%) and public health, which was of even more importance to them, coming in joint second at 27%.
Slovenia was the only other EU country apart from Malta where young people were most concerned about irregular migration. More than a third (34%) of Slovenian youth said they wanted to see the topic prioritised at a European level.
Meanwhile, despite the Hungarian government’s anti-immigrant rhetoric over the past years, young people there were the least concerned about irregular migration than any other EU state. Only 15% of Hungarian youth selected it as a concern, making it one of the least pressing issues for young people in the country.
Mirroring responses by their older compatriots, Malta’s young people were among the least likely across the bloc to say they wanted to see defence prioritised by the EU.
It emerged last month that only 14% of Maltese respondents to a special Eurobarometer 2025 winter survey supported the European Parliament (EP) making “the EU’s defence and security” its top priority.
Across the EU in general, young men were more likely to mention irregular migration as a top concern than their female counterparts – 28% to 23%, respectively – while those aged 25 to 30 were most likely to list the issue and defence as top priorities.
Asked about the main challenges facing the EU, those in Malta, like in most other EU countries, listed conflicts, instability and erosion of democratic values as the bloc’s biggest challenge. Unlike other EU countries, however, Maltese young people saw the impact of digital technologies on society as an equally pressing concern.
Still, young people in Malta were upbeat about the EU; a remarkable 92% said they were optimistic about the bloc’s future compared to the European average of 61%.
A total of 518 Maltese participants were interviewed last month for the survey.