FLEET SERIES Izzy Colledge and Anna Ayers(June 2026) The strategic value of public opinion in the EU’s neighbourhood FLEET( F resh L ook at E astern E uropean T rends) is a FES­initiated network of young, open-minded security experts from across the OSCE space. The group has met regular­ly since 2015 to develop joint policy proposals on how to resume cooperation and stabilise European security, including Islands of Cooperation and Responsible Europe. From the outset it has sought to find common ground and develop a joint approach following intensive, contro ­versial debates. After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukra ­ine in 2022, members of FLEET continued debating diffe ­rent perspectives, but it became more difficult to develop a unified position or a new joint vision. We thus continue the series of FLEET publications with a collection of essays by various members, which shed light on different components of European security. Key messages → The EU’s image is contested, seen by some as modernis­ing and beneficial, but by others as linked to higher pric­es and threats to national identity. Support is largely pragmatic, not ideological, so EU engagement must deliver visible gains on security, prosperity and sover­eignty, rather than rely on abstract ideological appeals. → Concerns about sovereignty, values, and economic costs can erode support, especially when expectations are unmet. The EU should communicate conditions, time­lines, limits and benefits clearly, while making its sup­port more tangible in daily life. → Identity and values are key battlegrounds. Policymakers should show how European rights and freedoms can safeguard, rather than threaten, national ways of life, helping counter disinformation and sovereignty con­cerns. → Domestic and external actors strongly shape percep­tions, either by overpromising what engagement can deliver or by exploiting dissatisfaction. The EU should seek to understand public attitudes and engage citizens and communities directly with locally relevant support. The strategic value of public opinion in the EU’s neighbourhood 1