The vast majority of Ukrainian citizens are in favor of joining NATO and the EU. According to Interfax-Ukraine, such are the results of a poll conducted in July by the Ilko Kucheriv Fund “Democratic Initiatives” and by the Razumkov Center. As reported in the study, if the referendum on Ukraine’s accession into NATO were held next Sunday, 63.9 percent of respondents would vote “yes,” 28.5 percent – “no,” and 7.6 percent could not decide. As stated by Iryna Bekeshkina, sociologist and director of the “Democratic Initiatives,” in June 2010 only 24.6 percent of citizens had been in favor of joining NATO and 67.7 percent had been against it. In June 2014 45.4 percent would have voted “for” and 36.4 percent “against.” Bekeshkina also noted that Donbas still has the lowest estimate of NATO supporters. “Five years ago 95 percent of Donbas residents were against joining NATO, and now the figure has dropped to about 60 percent; according to various polls, 17-20 percent there would like our country to enter NATO,” said the sociologist.
Additionally, the poll found out that 51.2 percent of respondents are in favor of joining the EU, 17.4 percent would like to enter the Customs Union with Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan, and 31.3 percent are undecided on this matter.
For a comment on the significance of the poll results and on their role in further Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine The Day has asked Volodymyr OHRYZKO, former Foreign Minister of Ukraine, organizing committee member of the “For Ukraine in NATO” public movement.
REUTERS photo
“Russian propaganda and Ukrainian failure to act during the past 24 years have created an illusion that Russia was our friend and strategic partner, with whom we would live peacefully and amicably. But through the terrible tragedies and sacrifice that Ukraine is going through today, our citizens have started to wake up from that dream and realize that we live beside an aggressive neighbor, for whom the security of others, the international law, and respect for human rights and peoples worth nothing. Even a few years ago when speaking about the prospects of joining NATO, we were looked at, especially in the east of the country, with a great deal of surprise. And today, when citizens had felt all the ‘charms’ of ‘the Russian World,’ that 17-20 percent who favor joining the Alliance signify a huge shift in public consciousness. It proves the existence of a nationwide trend which offers a correct assessment on where the threat is coming from.
“Our community rallies today to form the movement ‘For Ukraine in NATO,’ the initiative group of which includes prominent politicians, public figures, writers, journalists, and diplomats. One of the group’s goals is to organize a referendum that would once and for all end the debate on whether our country wants to enter the Alliance or not. Governments come and go, but if the sovereign will is expressed by the people, any government should comply with it. I think the authorities today should strive to hold a referendum on joining the Alliance not in five or six years, but as soon as possible, putting an end to debate over this issue. But even that would not mean that Ukraine automatically becomes a NATO member state – as it would only be a political solution. Implementation of this solution in practice would need an active preparation for several years. However, having the will of the people at hand, the government would act differently; it would have a clear plan – for preparing the accession, for the application itself and for joining the Alliance. But we are only told that ‘we must strive to meet the criteria for membership’ at the moment.
“The result of the poll is also a very serious argument for all the leaders of NATO member states, as some of them openly speculate that in Ukraine allegedly only a small group of politicians wants NATO membership, not the entire nation. Some public figures in the West say that Ukraine is not ready yet to join, and that Ukrainians do not support it. By now such statements will disappear, because only the people themselves have the right of sovereignty. In that regard, the survey result is telling, and we must do everything to organize a referendum on that issue.”
