'Segodnya' publishes the results of an opinion poll whether Ukrainians support entry into the European Union, or favour entry into a Customs Union with Russia and other former Soviet countries.
According to a poll 42% of respondents support entry into the EU, whilst 31% support accession to the Customs Union.
13.5% of Ukrainians believe that Ukraine should join neither the EU or the CU.
However if the results are broken down by age, 54% of 18-29 year olds lean in the European direction, and only 19% support entry into the CU.
Among people aged 60 and over, 45% support joining the CU with Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and 30% favour the EU.
The result is very clear - Ukraine has only one way to go..
['Segodna' is owned by Rinat Akhmetov...Ukraine's oligarchs are strongly in favour of Euro-integration and are fearful of their businesses being gobbled up by Russian magnates..]
Indeed, the younger generation gives hope for the future of Ukraine. However, for the moment Yanukovych, a person from the old
ReplyDeletecommunist generation, has grabbed almost dictatorial power, and unfortunately he obviously prioritizes petty personal vendettas and keeping political opponents in jail to long-term national interests and the will of the people. The question is for how long he will be able to delay and hinder the developement of Ukraine? So far he has managed to turn back the clock two decades and returned to old communist structures within a number of areas: the use of the judiciary as a tool for persecution of political opponents, various techniques for election fraud and impeding freedom of assembly, monopoly of media by oligarch ownership loyal to the party of regions, the build-up of a single powerful "party" which controls every facet of governance and to which membership gives a range of advantages, while opposition may endanger career, business and personal freedom, and perhaps most
strikingly of all, the creation of a completely corrupt and greedy party avantgarde which acts with impunity, committing all kinds of crimes and at the same time amassing enormous wealth and luxury (the most obvious symbol of this, the Mezhyhirya compound). The damage Yanukovych has caused Ukraine so far, economically and politically, can hardly be overestimated; foreign direct investment in Ukraine has decreased dramatically (not counting Cyprus), foreign trade balance deficit continues to increase, economic growth is close to negative, the reversal of previous democratic gains has disgraced Ukraine internationally and the Kafka-like political show trials against Tymoshenko, Lutsenko and Ivashenko have been a shameful focus of international media attention, shaping the negative perception of Ukraine abroad. But time is not on Yanukovych's side, and eventually he and his corrupt gangster/communist alliance will be overthrown and a new generation will lead Ukraine onto a democratic path, also meaning economic development and increased welfare.