Mykhailo Basarab: Despite electoral sympathies, values of Ukrainians remain unchanged

Political expert Mr. Mykhailo Basarab emphasizes that sociology confirms the immutability of the pro-European views of the majority of Ukrainians, regardless of whom they vote for in the presidential elections. He stated this during the 12th Kiev Security Forum organized by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk Open Ukraine Foundation.

He noted that the victory of Volodymyr Zelensky in the first round of the presidential elections has led to a broad discussion in social networks and within expert community with many false allegations. “Most of the false allegations are that if the campaign’s frontrunner is Mr. Zelensky, who is a Russian-speaking representative of the south and east of Ukraine, if such a large number of people have voted for him, this means that the change in value orientations had occurred in Ukraine... A research by the Razumkov Center had showed that in contrast to emotional electoral sympathies, the basic values of the Ukrainians remain unchanged, ” Mr. Basarab underlined.

The researches of the Razumkov Center, as well as other sociological institutions, demonstrate the following: after the invasion of Russia, patriotic sentiments grew up among Ukrainians and they still remain high; and Ukrainians support the course of joining the EU and NATO.

But at the same time, Ukrainians are growing worries about the outflow of people abroad. "Ukrainians, going to Europe, want to build and develop their country here, in Ukraine. They do not see Ukraine's accession to the EU, for example, as an additional opportunity to leave Ukraine and dissolve within the European Union," - Mr. Basarab said.

He added that even now Ukrainians believe that they are struggling not only for their own country, but also for Europe, that is, they already invest in a common future with the EU.

And one more conclusion, which the sociologists came with - Ukrainians will not tolerate capitulation, and therefore largely do not perceive the provisions of the Minsk agreements. And this should be taken into account both domestic politicians and Western partners.

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The annual international event Kyiv Security Forum was launched by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk Foundation Open Ukraine in 2007. Since then, the Forum has become a platform for high-level international discussions on current issues of national security, security issues of the Black Sea region, Europe and the world.