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The Institute of World Policy has presented results of the unique survey on how the citizens of 8 EU member states perceive the Russia-Ukraine conflict.To download the publication click here.
Before the presentation, Alyona Getmanchuk, the Director of the Institute of World Policy emphasized importance of the survey that had been conducted in eight EU countries: Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Poland, Sweden and the Netherlands.

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She mentioned that according to results of the survey conducted in June, the main association that citizens of the European Union had with Ukraine was war or military conflict. That is why the IWP decided to conduct the second part of the survey, with clarifying questions.
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Kateryna Zarembo, Deputy Director of IWP, presented the results of the survey.
You can download the presentation here
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After the presentation of the survey, discussion has been held, moderated by Sergiy Solodkyy, the First Deputy Director of the IWP.
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Andreas von Beckerath, Ambassador of Sweden to Ukraine, Mariana Betsa, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Dr. André Härtel, DAAD Associate Professor for “German and European Studies” and Edmond Huet, French military expert, took part in the discussion.
The main theses of Andreas von Beckerath’s speech:
“The people and the Government of Ukraine are focused on integration into the European Union. That is an important fact for every Swede. However, the survey showed that every third Swede is against Ukraine’s accession to the European Union. Those people, who claimed that Ukraine cannot join the EU, believe that Ukraine is not able to maintain the rule of law. This notion is also supported by the fact that corruption is a major association with Ukraine in Sweden. Still, it is important to understand that the people of Ukraine also demand establishment of the rule of law. During the period of Maidan, the people have demonstrated their readiness for changes.”
“Last year, when the Marshall Fund conducted a survey on Ukraine’s accession to the EU, they have found out that 70% of Swedes believe that the Swedish Government should support Ukraine’s integration, despite Russia’s position.”
“Ukraine has fulfilled almost all association conditions; however, the main objective is to focus on the reforms, since they are of the most importance.”
The main theses of Mariana Betsa’s speech:
“Today, everyone understands that Russia’s actions are a direct aggression against Ukraine. All of our international partners stand with us. However, we should not forget a very powerful tool employed by Russia, which is propaganda. It is important for the Government to work with civil society, not only in Ukraine, but also abroad. Through image-building projects and communication strategy, we might overcome the Russian propaganda. We hope that it will affect the public opinion in other countries.”
“We know that everything depends on the reform process and its effectiveness, in the context of both integration into the European Union and adapting Ukrainian institutions to the European standards.”
The main theses of Dr. André Härtel’s speech:
“The Germans have more negative associations with Ukraine, and the main one of them is the war. The main reason for that is the Germans’ fear of the military conflict, regardless of its scale and location. Germans approach the issues of military crisis, military alliances and arms supplies cautiously. Those measures are not popular among the German people. The economic support of Ukraine is more important for them.”
“The main issue is that the Germans perceive Ukraine through the prism of Russian propaganda. Most of them believe that the two countries belong to the same cultural space, which is why the Germans do no support Ukraine’s membership in the EU.”
“The rule of law is even more important for the Germans than for the Swedes, and this is the main European value for them.”
The main theses of Edmond Huet’s speech:
“Nowadays, France is a battlefield for the large-scale and efficient propaganda war. Russia has formed a clear platform for information warfare, beginning with the Mistral helicarriers incident.”
“The lack of information is enormous. It even started to affect the Ukrainian Diaspora; only those who are interested in information are not subjected to the influence of propaganda. The pseudo-journalists, who had allegedly visited Donbas, write publications and feed fake information through TV channels.”
“The new ambassador of Ukraine to France works much better than his predecessor. However, many French media are already on Russia’s side. As for the private channels, they even have long-term contracts with Russian companies.”
“Particularly egregious example is the MH17 incident; when I was asked to provide a comment regarding Russia’s involvement, they’ve sent me the draft of “my” speech beforehand. There is a complete information blockade. France is the most misinformed country. The messages are disconnected from reality.”
“Sometimes, we hear about members of French Parliament visiting Crimea occupied by Russia. French politicians do not adhere to obligatory international norms. Trying to improve their image, the old politicians attempt to appease their voters. Same activity had been previously employed by the Communist Party of France for the benefit of the Soviet Union.”
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A significant number of Ukrainian and international experts and diplomats had also participated in the discussion.
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Mr. Iago Gil Aguado , Deputy Head of Mission of the Spanish Embassy to Ukraine, and Leonid Litra , senior analyst at the IWP.
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Marius Janukonis, Ambassador of the Republic of Lithuania to Ukraine, and Dr. André Härtel, DAAD Associate Professor for “German and European Studies”
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Pavel Buchek, Deputy Head of Mission of the Czech Republic Embassy to Ukraine, and Andreas von Beckerath, Ambassador of Sweden to Ukraine
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Tsuyoshi Goroku, Japanese researcher, and Oleksandr Hara, expert of the “Maidan of Foreing Affairs”
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Alyona Getmanchuk, Director of Institute of World Policy, and Mariana Betsa, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson.
This survey continues the IWP’s sociological research on the perception of Ukraine in the EU. In June, first data of that research had been presented, the results of opinion polls conducted in six most populated countries of the EU: Spain, Italy, Poland, France, Germany and the United Kingdom.
Those opinion polls had been conducted by the TNS company on request of the Institute of World Policy within the framework of the “New European Policy: Filling the Awareness Gap” project supported by “Ukraine National Initiatives to Enhance Reforms” (UNITER) project, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by Pact Inc.