On December 10, New Europe Center organized presentation of the results of opinion poll “Foreign Policy and Security: Opinions of Ukrainian Society”. The event was attended by representatives of the diplomatic, expert and media environment.

The detailed results of opinion poll are available on New Europe Center site.

The opinion poll covered a broad range of foreign policy and security issues: security guarantees for Ukraine, formats of NATO accession, EU accession, preconditions for potential negotiations to end the war, levels of trust in foreign institutions and leaders, and more.

Katarína Mathernová, Ambassador of the European Union to Ukraine participated in the presantation of opinion poll. She shared her thoughts about some of the key findings:

• I would like to come up with three reasons why the EU and Ursula von der Leyen are on top of this rating of institutional trust in your opinion poll. One is that they indeed represent hope. Already on Maidan there were European flags but then since Maidan there was always a little bit of a pause from the side of EU institutions. I remember the lengthy discussions over every word in Summit conclusions or association Council final declarations. And so I think the hope is what at this dark hour gives perspective and the new flag.
• The second reason is that despite all odds, we are a big tanker that doesn’t move very fast. But we deliver. And we mobilized in February both in terms of the assistance and support, and also in terms of pushing ourselves on the enlargement agenda in quite creative ways. And I think that the credit goes to the institutions and the leaders among the member states that made it possible.
• Reason number 3 is the work of the Ukrainians over the last 10 years: the work of the reformers, the push by the civil society, the legislative achievements of the various sessions of the Rada, and when the full-scale invasion came, the heroism and resilience that we have seen. So the EU responded: it’s tied together that we were able to do the so far delivery in reaction to what we have seen and experienced.
• There is a factor which was seen in previous enlargements of the European Union: the EU was more trusted than local elites were in many candidate-states. When you have regular political life and political battle, especially in excruciatingly difficult circumstances like the full-scale invasion, it’s easier to eclipse what you’re looking at in terms of your own leadership and say, okay, they must be better. Now, that is very frequently followed by disappointment with the EU.
• Personalities matter. Ursula von der Leyen, in fact, really devoted a lot of personal energy, political courage, and sort of invention into supporting Ukraine. She has been here eight times since the full-scale invasion, and anybody who makes trips to Kyiv regularly knows that it’s even physically demanding. So I think that it’s partly the reason why she came on top in your poll.

Full news report about the event is available via link.

Photo report is here.

The record in English is here.

The record in Ukrainian is here.

Let us remind that this is the third opinion poll initiated by the NEC. The results of the first opinion poll can be found here, the second – here.

The presentation of the poll results is organized within the framework of a project supported by the International Renaissance Foundation. The poll was conducted by the research agency Info Sapiens at the request of the New Europe Center.