Poll: Ukrainians Ready to Endure War to Become Prosperous EU State

According to a new survey conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS), the overwhelming majority of Ukrainians believe that Ukraine will be a prosperous EU economy in 10 years’ time.

Using computer-assisted telephone interviews, researchers asked Ukrainians how they view the country’s future, offering several scenarios: optimistic as well as pessimistic ones.

The results showed that 88 percent of Ukrainians believe that Ukraine will have become a prosperous EU member state in 10 years’ time. Around 63 percent of those polled said they fully agree with this statement view while 26 percent tended to agree.

Just 5 percent of respondents chose the pessimistic scenario, according to which the Ukrainian economy will be a shambles in 10 years’ time and facing an exodus of people.

Around 6 percent of those who took part in the poll found it difficult to choose either scenario.

While region-wise the difference in the visions is not significant, in eastern Ukraine, which in this case encompasses Kharkiv and Donetsk Regions,  the respondents view the country’s future in bleaker terms.

Just 76 percent of local respondents believe that Ukraine will become a prosperous economy in a decade. By comparison, in western Ukraine the figure stands at 90 percent; in southern Ukraine it is 89 percent

The highest number of optimists fall into the 18-29 and 70+ groups.

Some 77 percent of those who were interviewed in Russian held optimistic views. The respective number for interviewees speaking Ukrainian is 90 percent.

When asked whether optimists are ready to endure short-term economic challenges, 96 percent of those who are optimistic about Ukraine’s future answered in the affirmative — as long as Ukraine becomes a prosperous country and an EU member state.

Worth the suffering

Commenting on the results of the survey, the deputy head of the KIIS, Anton Hrushetsky, said that western journalists and experts often quizzically ask him and his colleagues what helps Ukrainians to resist Russia’s terror, and why they do not yearn for peace negotiations.

“The results of this survey partially shed light on the matter. Ukrainians have formed a positive image of Ukraine’s future. And what is important is that the majority shares this dream – seeing a successful Ukraine in a family of European nations – and perceive it as completely attainable and worth today’s tragic ‘investments'”, he said, adding “our current resilience on the front and in civilian life is transformed into a reward for ourselves and future generations. This helps us to stay strong and move toward realizing this dream.”

The survey was carried out in the period of Oct. 21-23.

The random sample consisteds of 1,000 people from all regions of Ukraine except for temporarily-occupied Crimea and parts of Donetsk and Luhansk Regions that have been Russian-controlled since 2014.

The pollsters note that while the normal margin of error for this kind of sample does not exceed 3.4 percent, certain deviations must be factored in for indicators close to 50 percent in wartime, , including the mass departure of Ukrainians to other countries.

While in May 2.5-4 percent of those polled lived on  territories occupied after Feb. 24, 2022, since then the Russians have cut off Ukrainian mobile networks in some of them. As a result, the KIIS surveyed fewer respondents: they number 0.3 percent of the total.

While the views held by the respondents that lived under occupation differed somewhat, in overall terms they were, according to the pollsters, in line with the outlined trends, meaning that the results of the survey reflect reality in sufficiently accurate terms.