Ukrainians are generally convinced of the need for assistance from the EU and the US. Quite an insignificant number of citizens oppose receiving assistance from the Western governments. The largest portion of those who would abandon external support resides in the East of Ukraine. These are the answers to the questions offered by the New Europe Center within the framework of an opinion poll conducted by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation and the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology from August 16 to 28, 2018. 2,041 respondents have been interviewed (the marginal error is 2.3%).

KEY FINDINGS:

• Ukrainians seek greater pressure on the authorities from the EU side to accelerate reforms;
• Most Ukrainians consider pro-European reforms necessary, even if the EU does not offer Ukraine a membership perspective;
• Every fifth Ukrainian believes that the US should provide security guarantees for Ukraine;
• Only 6.8% of Ukrainians support the integration into the Eurasian Union with Russia and abandoning the European integration;
• In general, Ukrainians do not expect funding from the EU and the US. Only 7% of Ukrainians are seeking financial assistance from the EU, and even less (4.7%) of respondents are expecting money from the US.

Read the full opinion poll at the link

The paper was written within the Think Tank Development Initiative for Ukraine (TTDI), carried out by the International Renaissance Foundation in partnership with the Think Tank Fund of the Open Society Initiative for Europe (OSIFE) with financial support of the Embassy of Sweden in Ukraine. The views and opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Embassy of Sweden in Ukraine, the International Renaissance Foundation, and the Open Society Initiative for Europe (OSIFE).