A nationwide public opinion poll was conducted by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation in collaboration with the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology on November 4 - 19, 2019. The survey was conducted in 110 settlements in all regions of Ukraine except the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. In the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, polls were conducted only in territories controlled by Ukraine. 2,041 questionnaires were collected. The theoretical sampling error does not exceed 2.3%.
The funding provided by the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine.
For comparison, we provide the results of nationwide public opinion polls conducted by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation, in cooperation with our partners, the Razumkov Center and the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology.
- The majority of citizens - 53% - believe that Ukraine should join the European Union in the long term; the Eurasian Union with Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan was selected by 13%, and 24% of respondents believe that Ukraine should join neither the European Union nor the Eurasian Economic Union. The foreign policy orientation toward Russia dropped significantly initially after the annexation of Crimea, and especially after Russia's military aggression in the Donbas. However, the majority and of those who had previously hoped to join the union with Russia moved into the ranks of those who believe that Ukraine should join neither the European nor the Eurasian Unions.
- The orientation towards the European Union is most strongly supported in the Western region (71%), clearly supported in the Central region (60%), but in the Southern and Eastern regions the opinions of residents are divided. In the Southern region 32% support the orientation towards the European Union; the same number - 31% - believe that Ukraine should join neither the European nor to the Eurasian Union, and 24% show their preference for Eurasian Union with Russia. A similar situation is in the East: 34% - for European Union, 30% - for not joining any of the Unions, and 27% - support the orientation towards the Eurasian Union.
- Party "Opposition Platform - For Life" stands alone among other political forces. 60% of its supporters emphasized that Ukraine should join the Eurasian Union with Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, and only 8% support orientation towards European Union. Instead, the biggest support of European integration is shown by voters of the party "European Solidarity " - 90%. Voters of the “Servant of People” party also show overwhelming support for Ukraine's movement to the European Union - 54%, and 22% prefer not to join any of these Unions.
- According to respondents the most significant factors that hinder Ukraine's membership in the European Union are corruption (44%), insufficient economic development of Ukraine (40%), and low living standards (34%). The war in the Donbas was noted by 20% of respondents.
- The main thing that the European Union should do to accelerate reforms in Ukraine is to "put more pressure on the Ukrainian authorities" - 22% of the population (34% in the Western). The other most popular advices are the following: the EU should "more openly confront Russia" (15%), " show greater interest in protecting Ukrainian border and give Ukraine weapons" (14%), "provide more support to Ukrainian talented youth" (13%). It is notable that in the East a significant portion of respondents - 31% - could not answer this question.
