Public administration and corruption: Ukrainians named the main obstacles on the way to the EU

Ukrainians believe that the main obstacles to Ukraine’s membership in the European Union are corruption and problems in central government bodies and the reluctance of the EU itself to quickly accept Ukraine into its ranks.

This is reported by Censor.NET, citing the results of a sociological survey by the Sociopolis company.

According to the results of the study, respondents named corruption in central government bodies as the biggest obstacle to Ukraine’s accession to the EU — this answer was chosen by 35.6% of respondents.

In second place was the option “the EU’s unwillingness to quickly accept Ukraine” – it was supported by 28.4% of respondents.

Less frequently, Ukrainians cited the war and related restrictions (13.6%), the insufficient quality of the work of the government and parliament (5.2%), the insufficient independence of courts and law enforcement agencies (4.1%), and resistance to reforms from certain influence groups (3.3%) as reasons.

Respondents were also asked whether the Ukrainian authorities are doing everything necessary for Ukraine’s rapid accession to the EU.

Overall, 55% of respondents believe that the authorities are either not doing enough or not doing enough of the necessary “homework” for joining the European Union. In particular, 31% chose the answer “not doing enough” and 24% “not doing enough.”

At the same time, 38.9% of respondents hold the opposite opinion. Only 5.8% believe that the authorities are fully fulfilling the tasks necessary for EU accession, and 33.1% are convinced that they are rather fulfilling the necessary requirements.

Another 6.2% of respondents could not decide on their answer.

The study was conducted by telephone survey among Ukrainian citizens aged 18 and over. The sample did not cover temporarily occupied territories and areas where there is no connection to Ukrainian mobile operators.

The survey lasted from May 24 to 29, 2026. A total of 1,002 respondents were surveyed.

The theoretical sampling error with a confidence probability of 95% does not exceed 3.1%.

Previously, “Pryamiy” reported that EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos stated that, despite Ukraine’s status as an important partner of the European Union, its accession to the bloc by 2027 is unlikely.

French President Emmanuel Macron also spoke out against the simplified procedure for Ukraine’s accession to the European Union and proposed a “symbolic accession” format.

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