Most Ukrainians believe that Ukraine needs to join the European Union. This is evidenced by the results of a survey conducted by the Razumkov Center in March 2021. Ukraine’s accession to the European Union is supported by 59% of respondents, while 26% are of the opposite opinion. The share of those who support EU accession exceeds the share of those who adhere to the opposite point of view in the west (84% and 8.5%, respectively) and in the center of the country (63% and 19%, respectively). In the east, there are slightly more of those who believe that there is no need to join (38.5% and 46%, respectively), and in the south, the shares of the former and the latter do not differ statistically significantly (41.5% and 42%, respectively).
Accession to the European Union is mainly supported by young people (76% “for” in the age group from 18 to 29 years old, some 44% “for” among respondents over 60). At the same time, in all age groups, the share of those who support accession to the EU exceeds the share of those who oppose it.
In the event of a referendum on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union, some 59% of those polled (80% of those who intend to take part in the referendum) voted in favor of joining, and, respectively, 26% and 17% were against. At the same time, among fans of joining the European Union, some 96% of those polled expressed their readiness to vote in the referendum, and among opponents some 46%.
The share of those who intend to vote for accession to the EU exceeds the share of those who intend to vote against in the western (84% and 8%, respectively) and in the central regions (64% and 18%, respectively). In the eastern regions, there are slightly more of those who are going to vote against joining (39% and 46%, respectively), and in the south, the shares of the former and the latter are the same (42% each).
Among respondents aged 18 to 29 years, some 75% intend to vote for accession to the European Union, among respondents over 60 years old some 44%.
Among the representatives of the electorate of the European Solidarity party some 91% intend to vote for joining the European Union (against some 5%). Among the respondents who intend to vote for the Servant of the People party at the parliamentary elections were 78% and 13%, respectively, for the Batkivschyna party some 60% and 21%, respectively. At the same time, the overwhelming majority among the representatives of the electorate of the Opposition Platform – For Life party would vote against 15% and 73%, respectively.
The share of those who believe that relations between Ukraine and the EU will improve is highest in the western region (34.5%), lower in the central (27.5%) and lowest in the southern (22%) and eastern (17.5%) regions. In the same regional sequence, the share of those who believe that they will worsen is growing (4%, 6%, 15% and 21%, respectively). Optimism is more often expressed by representatives of young people (34% among respondents from 18 to 29 years old, some 19% among respondents over 60 years old).
The research was conducted by the sociological service of the Razumkov Center from March 5 to March 9, 2021 using the method of face-to-face interviews at the place of residence of the respondents. A total of 2018 respondents aged 18 and over were interviewed in all regions of Ukraine, with the exception of Crimea and the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, according to a sample representing the adult population in terms of basic social and demographic indicators. The theoretical sampling error (excluding the design effect) does not exceed 2.3% with a probability of 0.95.
