About 46% of Ukrainians surveyed by representatives of the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) in April support Ukraine's accession to the European Union and more than 41% back NATO entry.
KIIS deputy director Anton Hrushetskyy said this at a news conference entitled "The social and political sentiments of the Ukrainian people: April 2018 (based on the results of the KIIS survey)," an Ukrinform correspondent reported.
According to Hrushetskyy, respondents were asked to select one of three options - joining the European Union, joining the Customs Union with Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, and not joining the EU or the Customs Union. Some 45.9% of citizens said that Ukraine should focus on joining the European Union, 8.9% on joining the Customs Union, and another 32% picked the third option, he said.
At the same time, support for the pro-European vector is greatest only in the west of Ukraine.
According to the poll, 41.4% of Ukrainians rather or definitely support Ukraine's accession to NATO in contrast to 37.8% of those respondents who do not share such a vector of state development.
"At the same time, there is a significant regional specificity. Accession to NATO is supported by 61% in the west of Ukraine, 46% in the centre, and no more than a quarter in the south, east and in Donbas," the expert said.
The Kyiv International Institute of Sociology conducted an all-Ukrainian public opinion poll on 5-19 April. A total of 2,004 respondents aged over 18 years from 110 population centres of Ukraine, except for the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, were interviewed.