Nearly half of Ukrainians favor association with EU – GfK Ukraine

KYIV. Nov 12 (Interfax) – Nearly half of Ukrainians – 45% – support the idea of signing an association agreement with the European Union, and only 14% approve of the accession to the Belarusian-Kazakh-Russian Customs Union, GfK Ukraine said on Tuesday in publicizing the findings of a public opinion poll of 1,000 respondents it conducted on October 2-15, 2013.

Another 15% of those polled believe Ukraine should not join any alliances or associations.

At the same time, among those who are firmly confident of Ukraine’s integration choice, 54% are sure the country should sign an association agreement with the European Union and become a full member of the EU in the future, while another 8% believe it should sign the agreement but not join the EU.

The signature of an association agreement with the EU is approved of by 47% of the Party of Regions voters, 70% of the Batkivshchyna party voters, 63% of the UDAR party voters, and only 2% of the Communist Party voters.

The poll also found that those who approve of Ukraine’s integration with the EU also share EU values aimed at making their public lives more civilized and convenient, such as the observance of parking regulations and speed limits.

At the same time, they still lack tolerance, as nearly half of them – 48% – strongly object to allowing people with non-traditional sexual orientation not to conceal this.

[featured image is file photo]