Young Ukrainians believe in democracy and identify themselves as patriots, although a sizeable minority would consider leaving the nation to live somewhere else.
A survey by the British Council of 1,200 Ukrainians aged between 16-35 delved into topics such as political engagement, studying abroad and social attitudes to find out how the next generation is responding to a rapidly changing world.
Published on June 30, the survey collected responses from across Ukraine, but excluded Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk. The results of several questions were divided geographically into Kyiv, north, south, east, west and central, revealing telling disparities among the regions.
Nationalism, internationalism
A total of 82 percent of respondents identified themselves as Ukrainian patriots, but the impact of the war on the east is evident throughout the survey results. Just 16 percent of young people in the east felt that the future of Ukraine would be better than it was before 2014, as compared to 50 percent in Kyiv and a high of 60 percent in the west.
Posing the question: “In your opinion, Ukraine should…”, the survey provided four possible options: join the European Union; join NATO; join a union with Russia; or remain a non-aligned independent country.
The west and east again provided disparate responses, with only 2 percent of young people in the west favoring a union with Russia, compared to 29 percent in the east. However, there was a marked preference for independence over a Russian union in both the east (40 percent) and south (43 percent).
Predictably, the highest approval rating for the EU came from the west, which was also the only region in which more than half the respondents favored joining NATO. In total, EU accession received 54 percent approval, with joining NATO receiving 36 percent support. Overall, only 11 percent want closer ties with Russia.
Politics and preferences
Although 58 percent agreed that “democracy is better than dictatorship in all cases,” other answers revealed reservations.
Two thirds felt that Ukraine needed a “strong leader” and not a parliament, which the report describes as “an enduring attraction in many of the countries that were part of the former Soviet Union.”
This can be interpreted as a sign of frustration with the government’s current slow pace of reform. Assessing the factors that prevent their country’s development, Russian intervention received the highest number of votes, but the “passivity and irresponsibility of its citizens” was close behind.
The young people surveyed also proved themselves to be more politically engaged than the population at large, voting in higher numbers (67 percent) than the nationwide figures (52 percent). However, 44 percent agreed that sometimes politics was too complicated for many people to understand, and 51 percent didn’t think that people like them could influence the authorities’ actions.
Learning and languages
Challenging the much-discussed ideological divide between Russian and Ukrainian speakers, only 11 percent saw the nation’s bilingualism as a barrier to progress. Asked if there were any population groups that they would not want in their close circle, a majority of 62 percent answered that they may dislike individuals, but not all representatives of a given group. Of the remaining responses, significantly more people registered prejudice against the LGBT community (21 per cent) than Russians (9 per cent) or Russian-speakers (3 per cent).
Over half of the young people surveyed would like to study abroad, with the UK emerging as top choice both for general education and specifically for studying English, while Canada is seen the best option for emigration. Of the 45 percent who are considering temporary or permanent emigration, financial reasons, job opportunities and security concerns ranked as the leading motivations.
An impressive total of 82 percent chose “interested in the country’s culture” as the reason why they’d like to learn English in the UK; a culture which, according to later results, consists primarily of Harry Potter, the Royal Family, Manchester United and copious amounts of tea.
Cultural questions
The responses paint a picture of a politically engaged but justifiably skeptical demographic who hope for the best for their country while acknowledging that studying abroad might be their best option, at least in the short-term. Their optimism for the future is restrained by awareness of the challenges Ukraine faces, particularly concerning corruption and the continuing war in the East.
The international questions reveal tensions that can be seen as representative of the country at large. Politically, the majority lean towards the west, but discomfort remains with the liberal values of the countries that offer educational opportunities. They want to learn English, and in many cases hope to study in the UK or Canada – but one in five would be uncomfortable with lesbian and gay people in their friendship community.
Concluding its report, the British Council observes that the coming months will be decisive in Ukraine. The report recommends that the UK must continue to invest in and support Ukraine, particularly in civil society, education and culture.
Read the full report here: http://www.britishcouncil.org/sites/britishcouncil.uk2/files/hopes_fears_and_dreams.pdf
