The majority of Ukrainians support the country's integration into both the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). However, according to a survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) conducted in December 2024, NATO accession is considered a higher priority.
Yes, although membership in both alliances is important for the majority of the population, priority is given to joining NATO (apparently due to the urgent need to have reliable security guarantees).
According to the results, more Ukrainians want to see Ukraine in NATO (46%) than in the EU (22%). Another 22% of respondents, when asked what should be a priority for Ukraine - membership in the EU or NATO, said “neither one nor the other”. 11% of respondents found it difficult to give an answer.
Sociologists note that over the past year, there have been more people who say that membership in any union should not be a priority (in October 2023, there were only 12%). At the same time, over the year, there have been 8% fewer people who say that membership in NATO is a priority (54% previously). For the EU, the figures have hardly changed (24% previously).
At the same time, a KIIS poll showed that 90% of Ukrainians want to see Ukraine as part of the EU, and 84% want to see Ukraine as part of NATO. Such data allows us to speak about the absolute commitment of Ukrainians to European and Euro-Atlantic integration.
In the question about trust, it can be seen that 46% trust the EU (19% do not trust it), and 43% trust NATO (25% do not trust it). That is, these alliances are rather trusted (the balance of trust-distrust is positive), but not overwhelmingly so, KIIS notes.
When studying Ukrainians' acceptance of the West, the issue of trust in the US was also raised. As it turned out, 40% trust the US, 23% do not trust it. The remaining 36% have an undecided attitude. That is, they trust in some ways, they do not trust in some ways, and when there is a direct opportunity, they prefer to choose this particular option, KIIS notes. Thus, Ukrainians tend to trust the US (since the balance of trust-distrust is positive), but at the same time there is quite a lot of criticism.
Other polls in Ukraine: what are the results?
According to KIIS, the share of citizens in Ukraine who are ready to endure war “as long as necessary” is decreasing. This is evidenced by the results of a survey conducted on December 2-17, 2024 and in October 2024.
Thus, those who are ready to endure war “as long as necessary” in December were 57%, and in October 63% of respondents. At the same time, in February last year, the share of people who gave such an answer was 73%.
According to the survey results, 3% are ready to tolerate war for one year, 3% for half a year. But 18% are ready to tolerate war for several months. Another 18% are undecided.
Sociologists note that the share of those who say a shorter period of several months or half a year has changed insignificantly in December compared to a similar survey in October. On the other hand, the number of those who have "hard to say" how much longer they are willing to endure has increased from 12% to 18%.
