“There could be two factors here. The root cause is in the wording of the question, not in the date of the poll. While the survey conducted in the summer contained questions about attitudes toward the agreement as a whole, without concretizing individual provisions, the current one dealt with the establishment of a so-called governing body to which Ukraine would have to delegate some of its sovereignty and in which Russia would have the majority of votes. It is probably the phrase about Ukraine’s partial renunciation of its sovereignty that caused this difference in answers. Besides, when those polls were conducted in the summer, it was not yet known exactly what provisions the agreement would contain. The media in turn emphasized that the SES agreement would result in a free trade zone. The majority of the population really takes a fair view of a free trade zone with the three states. I think these main factors are closely interconnected. I think if the question were put in general terms (for or against the agreement) even now, without laying emphasis on the partial delegation of sovereignty, the answers would differ from those obtained in the latest survey.”
“And how would you explain the following interdependence: the higher the educational level of those surveyed, the larger the share of those who oppose Ukraine’s entry into the SES?”
“This also depends to a large extent on age. For, in this country, the older an individual, the lower his educational level. And the older generation is traditionally oriented toward restoration of the USSR and the previously existing order. A negative attitude toward the SES is the position of the intellectual elite traditionally oriented toward the West. In general, people who tend to accept new sociocultural ideas are increasingly looking West. People with a higher education form a societal segment that gravitates to modern cultural trends - in terms of certain information flows and sociocultural standards, not in terms of the oeuvres of art. This causes educated people to orient themselves toward the West and take a more critical view of Russia.”
“Why do practically equal parts of Ukraine’s population support both SES and EU membership?”
“To more exact, the population simultaneously supports entry into the SES and the EU. In other words, we see a certain ambivalence of orientations. This can be attributed to the desire of a considerable part of the population to maintain close ties with both our Western and Eastern neighbors. This tendency became obvious when those surveyed were asked about their attitude toward the SES and EU. Of course, it is very difficult to formally achieve this because one cannot be an EU and SES member at the same time. This kind of answer reflects the population’s dualistic orientation. The man in the street does not care whether this is possible in reality; he just expresses his own attitude toward his Western and Eastern neighbors.”
