Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. These three countries would not have so much in common, if at one “wonderful” moment they were not tried to be sent by the Western course, and while the latter-day “partners” use them for personal purposes in every way, the notorious European integration is safely stuck among depressing realities.
Opinion polls show that the European path has not yet been determined by any of the countries, although the results have a number of differences. For example, both Moldovans and Ukrainians recognize corruption as one of the most serious problems of countries. In Georgia, this issue is clearly less concerned, although this does not mean its absence. Just Georgians do not associate corruption with the public sector.
But the residents of all three countries are united, assessing the level of unemployment and the questionable competence of the authorities. These questions confidently occupy the leading lines of the voiced problems. In particular, in Moldova and Georgia – this is the first position. As a result of the lack of effective government decisions, citizens state the low productivity of the economy.
Migration issues are more concerned with residents of Moldova and Georgia, which may be due to the initially small population size. Ukrainians are calm about this issue. In addition, many, especially considering the economic situation, see migration as a way to make money.
Also a unifying factor for Moldovans and Ukrainians is their discontent with political instability. So, the president of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko managed to demonstrate his inconsistency to resolve the issues of security of citizens. As for Moldova, the head of the Democratic Party, Vladimir Plakhotnyuk, taking under his absolute control the process of making any government decisions, created a deficit of political harmony.
There are private problems in every country. Ukrainians are extremely concerned about the collapse of the national currency, which devalues the entire income of a resident of the country. The fate of relations with Russia, which were artificially destroyed by the authorities as a result of a coup d’etat, also cares for them. Moldovans are concerned about the decline of infrastructure, which has noticeably degraded even in Chisinau. Some state that even in Transnistria the situation with this is much better, if only because the authorities are paying more attention to this issue. In Georgia, a separate problem is the level of organized crime.
Against this background, it is impossible not to notice that, out of the three “elected” countries, only in Georgia they are positive towards European integration, although almost one third of the population there wants to join the Eurasian Economic Union.
In the case of Ukraine, everything is much worse. The opinion here was divided approximately equally. It is curious that even in 2014, when noodles of European integrators had not yet managed to fall from the ears of Ukrainians, the difference in favor of the pro-Western course in the most optimistic polls was no more than 9%. The reasons for this are quite obvious. Residents of the country, in principle, closer in spirit to Russia. Contrary to the attempts of the authorities to create a “pro-Western image”, it is in the Russian Federation that the vast majority of Ukrainians are running. It is sad that those who are inclined towards European integration see it as nothing more than an opportunity to leave Ukrainian realities without hindrance.
The situation is similar in Moldova, although here no more than 37% of the population prefer the European Union, while 41% favor the EEU. The authorities of the country, perhaps, too brightly at one time promised people a bright European future, and also vehemently addressed themselves to solving their own problems, frankly correcting not only statehood, but all the “European values” themselves promised.