The majority of Ukrainians, 60.5%, believe their country can join the European Union in less than 10 years, a recent survey commissioned by Ukrainian newspaper Dzerkalo Tyzhnia showed.
Around 20% of Ukrainians think it can happen in the next two years, in line with claims by Ukrainian officials, according to the poll released on Nov. 9.
Meanwhile, over 6% of respondents reportedly said that Ukraine would never become an EU member, and almost a third couldn't answer that question.
When asked what would be the biggest obstacle to Ukraine's accession to the EU, 51.7% of respondents pointed to a high level of corruption, Dzerkalo Tyzhnia wrote.
The corruption was followed by the ongoing war in the country (19%), destroyed infrastructure that needs to be rebuilt (8%), opposition from certain EU members, such as Hungary (5.4%), the reluctance of Europeans to "provoke" Russia (3.7%) and internal issues within the EU (1.2%).
The Kyiv Independent news desk
Only 2.3% and 0.6% of respondents named problems in Ukraine's judicial system and an insufficient level of democracy as the main obstacles on the country's way to the EU, according to the media outlet.
The survey was conducted by the Razumkov Center from Sept. 28 to Oct. 4 in 22 Ukrainian oblasts and the city of Kyiv. The sociologists held face-to-face interviews with 2,019 adults.
Ukraine received a recommendation from the European Commission on Nov. 8 to begin accession talks, but a final vote among the member states of the EU will still be required in order to begin the official accession talks.
Ukraine officially applied for EU membership in late February 2022, just following the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion.
The country was granted candidacy status in June and presented with seven criteria it needs to fulfill in order to begin the talks. The report released by the European Commission on Nov. 8 said that Ukraine has fully implemented four of the seven required reforms.
Olga Rudenko
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