Poll shows Ukrainians divided equally on support, opposition to joining
NATO
KYIV. Nov 7 (Interfax-Ukraine) - More than
one-third of Ukrainian citizens (35%) said they are against their
country's integration with NATO, while 29.8% said they would like to see
their country as an alliance member, according to a poll.
The poll was conducted by the Razumkov Center for Economic and
Political Studies among 2,000 people on October 18-28.
About 23.8% of those polled were undecided, while 11.4% said they
would not take part in a referendum on NATO membership if it took place
today.
In a June poll, 32% of respondents supported Ukraine's joining NATO,
32.2% were against it, 22.1% were undecided and 13.7% said they would
not
participate in a referendum.
Valery Chaly, director of the center's international programs,
suggested that today's level of support for Ukraine's entry to the
alliance in rather high, even exceeding "initial indicators" of other
countries, some of which are already NATO members.
Chaly noted that some internal and external factors, including the
pace and efficiency of reforms aimed at bringing the country's civil
standards into line with those of NATO, might change the situation.
He said that the way Ukrainian-NATO contacts are developing will play
a key role.
Less than 2% of respondents said that they have in-depth knowledge
about NATO, every fourth described his knowledge as moderate, two-
thirds
of the country's citizens spoke about their knowledge as poor, while
19.2% said they have no information at all.
Serbian News Network - SNN
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http://www.antic.org/
