Over 60% of Ukrainians back Ukraine's accession to EU

poll

21.01.2020 14:07

Ukrinform

More than 60% of Ukrainians consider joining the European Union as Ukraine's main integration area, and more than 50% support their country's joining NATO as the best option for guaranteeing security for the state, according to a nationwide survey conducted by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation.

The results of the survey were presented on Tuesday, January 21.

"Nearly two-thirds of the population (64%) believe that Ukraine's main integration area should be EU accession, 13% support accession to the Eurasian Economic Union, and 23% were undecided. The greatest support for Ukraine's accession to the EU was recorded in western (90%) and central (79%) regions," the study said.

At the same time, in the south and the east, these figures are 44% and 43% respectively. However, some locals also support accession to the Eurasian Economic Union (23% and 24%).

However, experts point out that since 2013, the number of citizens favoring EU membership has increased from 46% in December 2013 to 57% in December 2014, gradually increasing to 64% in December 2019. At the same time, according to the study, the number of supporters of the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan dropped sharply - from 36% to 13%.

"More than half of the population - 51% - believes that the best option for guaranteeing security for Ukraine would be to join NATO. This is the highest percentage during the entire period of polls. Ukraine's non-bloc status is supported by 26%, and 6% believe that a military alliance with Russia and the CIS countries is needed," the poll said

Some 17% of respondents were undecided.

A nationwide survey was conducted by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation and the sociological service of the Razumkov Center from December 13 to December 18, 2019 in all regions of Ukraine, except Crimea and occupied territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. A total of 2,017 respondents aged 18 and over were interviewed. The poll's margin of error does not exceed 2.3%.