Ukrainian society combines a sense of closeness to the country with a closeness to the wider, European space, shows issue #6 of the “Common Contours” study by the Rating Group

"Common Contours" is a survey about Ukraine in a European context, where we reflect questions and compare data from our own surveys of Ukrainians with data from other surveys in EU countries, candidate countries, and other European countries. In this issue, we compare our own research data with Eurobarometer data – a series of official EU surveys from the European Commission and the European Parliament. Eurobarometer data belongs directly to the EU, and we thank them for open access to it.

Emotional connection with the country and city / village

• 93% of respondents feel an emotional connection with Ukraine.
• However, the intensity of the connection of Ukrainians with the country is higher than the average in EU countries: if in Ukraine 69% have a pronouncedly strong emotional connection with the country, such sentiment is shared by 52% on the EU countries.
• 84% of Ukrainians feel close to the city / village.
• A similar sentiment towards their native settlement is shared by respondents in the countries of Northern Europe (83-84%), Estonia (84%), and France (85%).

Emotional connection with the EU & Europe

Although Ukraine is not yet a member of the EU, most citizens feel an emotional closeness to the EU and Europe in general. The estimates are comparable to the estimates in the EU member states

• More than half of Ukrainians feel emotional connection with the EU (51%) and Europe in general (56%).
• For comparison: on average in the European Union countries, 62% feel an emotional connection with the EU.
• The level of emotional connection with the EU in Ukraine is similar to the estiamtes in Cyprus (52%), Austria (54%), Estonia (54%), Finland (56%), the Netherlands (56%) and is somewhat higher than in the Czech Republic (44%) and Greece (38%).
• Older respondents, respondents with higher income and education levels, residents of Kyiv, and western regions feel relatively stronger connection EU.
• Logically, among supporters of joining the EU, the majority feel an emotional connection with the European Union (67%).

Ukraine belongs to the candidate countries with the strongest emotional attachment to the EU

• Among the candidate countries, the highest level of emotional connection with the EU is felt by residents of Albania (70%), Montenegro (68%), North Macedonia (55%), Ukraine (51%), and slightly less by residents of Moldova (49%).
• To compare, 42% in the United Kingdom and Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1/3 in Turkey, only 25% in Serbia, and 20% in Georgia feel emotional attachment to the EU.

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Rating Group is one of Ukraine's largest research institutions, operating since 2008. The company is registered in Ukraine and has extensive experience conducting sociological surveys both within Ukraine and abroad. The group includes: Rating Sociological Group, Rating Lab research laboratory, Rating Online platform, and Rating Call Center.