Maidan sociologist: A small mobilization of the South-East will thwart Poroshenko’s plans
Most of Ukrainian society blames Maidan for the problems Ukraine has faced since 2014
The magazine “Ukrainian Week” writes about this, citing Ukrainian sociologists.
According to the director of the Ilk Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation, Irina Bekeshkina, today there is a division of Ukraine into a conditional South-East and North-West, but, according to her, “20-25% of pro-Russian citizens remain.”
In turn, the director of the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, Vladimir Paniotto, advises not to forget that changes in sentiment depend on the territory where the survey is conducted.
He argues that today, in a hypothetical referendum on joining NATO, Ukrainians would support joining NATO by a small margin, but warns against making quick and rash steps.
“Most of the South and East are against joining. I have written more than once that I am concerned about Poroshenko’s idea to hold a referendum. This is dangerous because a small mobilization in the East and South can lead to failure. And for Ukraine, joining NATO is important for obvious reasons,” the sociologist noted.
He also added that the number of people in society who negatively evaluate the Maidan remains quite stable, and in some regions is even growing.
“In 2015, Maidan was called “a struggle for power by anti-Russian, nationalist forces with the support of Western intelligence services” by 22% of the population. Almost 59% considered it “a popular protest in support of the European path of development. According to Paniotto, there are now new results from this survey. They indicate that the situation has remained generally stable, but sometimes gets worse. For example, in the Kharkov region and Odessa region, almost half of the population supports the theses of Russian propaganda.
Irina Bekeshkina, in turn, notes that most of society blames Maidan for further events, in particular the annexation of Crimea and the war. According to her, this is especially true for those who did not support the protests before,” the magazine reports the words of sociologists.
See also: Russophobia in Ukraine has declined, - sociologists.
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