Ukraine has quite powerful potential of patriotism, Prof. Holovakha says

KYIV, August 23 /Ukrinform/. Despite the regional features and socio-economic difficulties, the Ukrainians remain patriots of their country, Prof. Yevhen Holovakha, Ph.D, Deputy Director of the Institute of Sociology told Ukrinform.

"General patriotism in Ukraine has quite a significant representation. The overwhelming majority of Ukrainians have always expressed support for their own state. Despite difficulties, people are proud of their country and want to protect it and see Ukraine as their own state," Prof. Holovakha noted.

However, he noted that our state has not yet acquired those traits that are found in countries with a hundred years of history: "The state is a little more than 20 years old. But for such a short history, for a country whose life is associated with crises both economic and political, which has not yet determined its geopolitical orientation, which is regionally differentiated, the degree of patriotism is really quite high."

In support of his words, Prof. Holovakha cited several facts. "We saw it during EURO 2012, not only in the western or central regions, but also in the east. And the situation with Tuzla! Then, 90 percent of people of the country stated a clear position to defend the rights of the state irrespective of the regions. Such events demonstrate that Ukraine has quite a powerful potential of patriotism," the Doctor of Philosophy recalled.

Also, he noted the movement towards the development of the country. "In general, the positive changes are largely due to the dynamics of development of the country. If in the 1990s there was a period of continuous physical survival for the vast majority, so now the number of people who are physically surviving is much less. Yet more Ukrainians believe that they not only survive, but also live in this country, although being not very happy. Nostalgia for the Soviet era is associated with this, which is recorded by lot of sociological surveys," Holovakha said.

When asked about the risk of losing independence, the sociologist said that they are minor.

"There are such threats, but I do not see them fatal. I do not see a threat to independence at all, but there are larger or smaller losses. Ukraine has a choice between the European Union and the Customs Union. These alliances limit in some way the sovereign capacity of the country, for it will be necessary to abide by the rules that exist there. In my opinion, on the way to the European Union the losses are smaller than on the way to the Customs Union. But the main thing is that the country is a real subject of international law and subject to all matters related to international relations," he concluded.

АМ