Majority of Ukrainians Support Reforms Before Joining EU

Most Ukrainians (73 percent) consider the EU’s reform demands as part of Ukraine’s accession plans to be reasonable. That's according to the results of a survey conducted by "Info Sapiens" on behalf of the New Europe Center.

Of these, 29 percent believe reforms are a matter of Ukrainian interest, and 19 percent agree that the EU should demand the implementation of reforms as soon as possible.

A quarter (26 percent), whilst considering the demand to be reasonable, feel that Brussels should be more lenient given the on-going war in the country.

Only nine percent believe that the EU should not demand reforms from Ukraine during the war, and the same proportion are of the view that Ukraine should have been allowed to join the bloc without any conditions.

Just three percent of respondents said that Ukraine does not need to join the EU.

The majority of respondents – 63 percent – believe that Ukraine could start EU accession negotiations before the war ends. Less than a fifth (20 percent) do not believe in such a best-case scenario, and 17 percent refused to be drawn on possible future options.

Even though 59 percent believe quality to be more important than pace in the preparation of European integration projects, more than a third (36 percent) still consider pace to be more crucial, arguing that shortcomings can be compensated for later.

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Most respondents (60 percent) say it is reasonable to remind Ukrainian officials about the problem of corruption in Ukraine and are convinced that EU pressure will help to overcome the endemic problem.

At the same time, almost a fifth believe that corruption is not a key issue during the war and that the EU should make military assistance a priority.