[lbo-talk] Ukraine turns east

Chris Doss lookoverhere1 at yahoo.com
Tue Sep 14 04:12:15 PDT 2004


Or at least its public opinion does.

Sep 13 2004 6:15PM Pro-Russian sentiments prevail in Ukraine - poll KYIV. Sept 13 (Interfax-Ukraine) - A recent poll has shown that nearly one-half of Ukrainians (49%) think that their country would be better off if it joined the Russia-Belarus Union, while 29.3% believe that Ukraine would have a better future if it joined the European Union.

Another 15.1% of those polled said they do not know which organization would help improve the well-being of Ukrainian citizens, 6.5% were undecided, and 0.1% refused to answer this question.

The public opinion survey conducted by the Kyiv International Sociology Institute together with the Democratic Initiatives foundation between August 25-September 3 suggested that 43% of respondents disapproved of Ukraine's entry into any military alliances, saying that their country should cooperate both with NATO and Russia on an equal basis. Another 20.9% said they favor Ukraine's membership in the CIS military alliance, 10.7% said Ukraine should strive to join NATO, 24.4% were undecided, and 0.3% refused to offer their opinion.

A total of 67.8% of those surveyed said that Ukraine and Russia should be independent but friendly states with "open borders" and without visas and customs regulations, 20% want to see the two countries as a single state, 8.4% said Ukraine's relations with Russia should be similar to relations with other countries, which are characterized by closed borders, visas and customs regulations, and 0.2% refused to answer this question.

The poll involved about 2,000 people, and the margin of error is about 2.3%.

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