More than half of the EU citizens who visited Ukraine during Euro 2012 improved their opinion of Ukraine, according to a survey entitled "The First Euro Exit Poll" conducted by GFK at the request of the Institute of World Politics.
The study surveyed 1,048 respondents who came from EU countries.
According to the survey, most respondents (84.64%) had never been to
Ukraine.
More than half of the Europeans (57.25%) said that the organization
of the championship had improved their perception of Ukraine, 55.82%
said that after visiting Ukraine they feel sympathy for the country,
37.5% said they feel respect for Ukraine, and 31.87% expressed a desire
to support Ukraine.
“The survey has shown that in general, ordinary citizens of the EU
are kindly disposed towards the European aspirations of Ukraine and
various components of European integration such as the introduction of a
visa-free regime,” reads the study obtained by Interfax-Ukraine.
In particular, 42.56% of Europeans said that Ukraine deserves entry
to the EU in the near future, and 30.92% believe that Ukraine can join
the EU in the medium term if the political and economic situation
improves. Only 2.77% said they did not want Ukraine to be part of the
EU.
