Some 59% of Ukrainians perceive EU membership positively, 6% negatively – Rating Group poll

An absolute majority of 59% of surveyed Ukrainians positively assess Ukraine’s accession to the European Union, while 29% say it is neither good nor bad, and only 6% give a negative assessment.

This is evidenced by the results of a survey conducted by the Rating Group for Europe Day 2026 (May 9) on April 15-17, 2026.

"An absolute majority of Ukrainians believes that Ukraine’s entry into the EU would be good. Ukraine ranks among the candidate countries with the most positive perception of EU membership. Specifically, 59% of respondents in Ukraine perceive EU membership positively, 29% say it is neither good nor bad. Only 6% give a negative assessment," the group said in a press release on its official website on Thursday.

It is noted that in the 4th edition of the "Common Contours" study, the way Ukrainians perceive EU membership is compared with opinions in the EU and candidate countries. This issue compares data from the Rating Group’s own research with data from Eurobarometer—a series of official EU polls from the European Commission and the European Parliament.

According to Eurobarometer research, among EU candidate countries, the most positive attitude towards accession is held by Albania (80% responded that EU membership is good) and Ukraine (59%).

At the same time, among candidate countries, Ukraine has the lowest direct negative assessment of EU membership. While in Ukraine this figure is 6%, it is 16% in Albania, 52% in Montenegro, and 33% in Moldova.

"Benefits of EU membership: 72% of Ukrainians are convinced that the country would benefit from EU membership. Another 18% said there would be no benefit, and 10% answered that they do not know. Among candidate countries, Ukraine is among the greatest optimists regarding the benefits of EU membership along with Albania (85%), North Macedonia (77%), and Georgia (72%)," the press release said.

Regarding the perception of EU values, for Ukrainians, these are primarily peace, respect for human life, democracy, respect for rights, and the rule of law. General Ukrainian perceptions of EU values are significantly similar to views in EU countries themselves. Most often, Ukrainians speak of peace (42%) and respect for human life (39%) as key EU values.

According to sociologists, Ukrainians and EU citizens are united by the perception of the EU as an environment of values of peace (42% in Ukraine and 41% on average in the EU), democracy (29% and 33%), respect for rights (22% and 28%), and the rule of law (23% and 20%). In war conditions, Ukrainians mention respect for human life significantly more often (39%) than the EU average (15%).

Rating Group conducted the survey using the CATI (Computer-Assisted Telephone Interview) method with a sample size of 1,000 respondents.

Sample format: a random sample of mobile phone numbers (population of Ukraine aged 18 and older in all regions except temporarily occupied territories and territories where Ukrainian mobile communication was absent at the time of the survey). Results are weighted using current data from the State Statistics Service of Ukraine.

Representativeness: the sample is representative by age, gender, and type of settlement (margin of error is no more than 3.1% with a confidence probability of 0.95).

Survey data in Ukraine (Rating Group) are compared with data from EU countries through two Eurobarometer studies. The questionnaire reflects the questions: perceptions of EU membership — Standard Eurobarometer 104 (October-November 2025); perceptions of EU values — Standard Eurobarometer 103 (March-April 2025).