Ukrainians Evenly Divided on NATO Issue: Poll

A poll conducted this month in Ukraine reveals that residents are evenly divided on the idea of their country joining NATO.

MOSCOW, November 26 (Sputnik) – Ukrainians are evenly divided on the idea of joining NATO, according to this month polls, AFP reported on Wednesday.

“The light at the end of the tunnel”, as President Petro Poroshenko referred to Ukraine’s NATO membership, looks a bit further than the President hoped for. Ukraine still needs several years of reforms before it could even become a candidate country, AFP said.

Poroshenko said voters would eventually decide the path Ukraine ought to take in a referendum. A poll conducted this month found that 51 percent of Ukrainians are in favor of joining NATO. The polls were held between November 6 and November 13, with 2,000 respondents having been interviewed, Kyiv Post said.

Before Ukraine could become a NATO member, the country must improve its corrupt and ill-equipped army to fit NATO standards.

“This is just posturing by Poroshenko – trying to fluff his feathers in front of Russia,” said Janek Lasocki, a Ukraine expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations, as quoted by AFP. “There are many reasons why it’s far off. For a start you need secure borders to join NATO and that is clearly not the case”.

The German Foreign Minister said earlier this week he sees Ukraine having a partnership with NATO, but not membership, Der Spiegel said. The German minister further stated that it was unrealistic to think that Ukraine could join the European Union (EU) in the short term, as the country must first improve its economic and political situation.