More than 50 percent of Ukrainian nationals are confident that their country will have to eventually join the European Union, according to a new public opinion survey, published on Thursday by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives foundation
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th December, 2019) More than 50 percent of Ukrainian nationals are confident that their country will have to eventually join the European Union, according to a new public opinion survey, published on Thursday by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives foundation.In July, sociological group Rating revealed the results of a survey according to which slightly over 60 percent of Ukrainians supported the country's accession to the European bloc.
"The majority of citizens - 53% - are confident that Ukraine should join the European Union in the future. Thirteen percent choose the Eurasian Economic Union with Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. While 24 percent of respondents believe that Ukraine should join neither the EU nor the Eurasian [Economic Union]," the survey results read.
The rest of the respondents did not decide on the answer or refused to tell.
Support for European integration prevails in the central and western regions of Ukraine. According to respondents, corruption problems (44 percent), insufficient economic development (40 percent) and low living standards among the population (34 percent) prevent Ukraine from becoming a member of the European Union. The armed conflict in the Donbas region was chosen by 20 percent of respondents among the reasons.
The poll was conducted from November 4-19 in all regions of Ukraine, with the exception of Donbas that had refused to recognize the new government in Kiev. As many as 2,041 respondents participated in the survey. The margin of error does not exceed 2.3 percent.
In February, the Ukrainian parliament adopted amendments to the constitution, which enshrines the country's aspirations for EU and NATO membership. At the same time, then European Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn previously stated that it was unrealistic to talk about Ukraine's membership of the European Union in the coming years. He advised Kiev to concentrate on implementing the association agreement with the EU.
Ukraine canceled its non-aligned status after a power change in 2014 and confirmed its intention to join NATO. NATO officials have repeatedly said that the country needs to implement a wide range of reforms before pursuing membership in the alliance.
