Speech presented at the GLOBSEC Conference organized by the Euro-Atlantic center, Slovak Atlantic Commission and NATO PDD on 27 - 28 October 2005 in Bratislava, Slovakia. Ilko Kucheriv is the director of the Democratic Initiatives Foundation, Ukraine. The Democratic Initiatives Foundation conducted the nationwide survey on February 4-15, 2005. Using the face-to-face method, 2040 respondents, aged 18 years and older were questioned. Sample error was 2.2%. More recent data is unavailable.

Less than seven percent of Ukrainians are well informed about NATO and its current state of development. A vast majority of the population is unaware of the benefits for the country and its people in joining the North Atlantic Alliance. These conclusions were reached following a polling of experts conducted by the Democratic Initiatives Foundation (DIF) from September 22 to October 11, 2005. A total of 60 experts were surveyed.

Thus, NATO has become a rare kind of “scarecrow” in the political battle for/against accession. According to a DIF public opinion poll (February 2005), the number of people who would vote for entry into NATO - 15%, against entry - 48%; for EU membership – 44%, against membership – 28%.

Nevertheless, more than two-thirds of the population says that they “know little or nothing about NATO.” Support for Ukraine joining NATO dropped by 12% during the 2004 presidential elections.

The experts surveyed unanimously feel that Ukraine joining NATO corresponds to the national interests of Ukraine and proposed that the subject of discussion be the advantages the country gains from joining the alliance rather than its expediency. In their opinion, the mere fact of Ukraine becoming a member of the organization will definitely open up the window of opportunity for Ukraine to realize its sovereignty, it will be an important step on the road to European integration, it will safeguard the country from external intervention into internal matters, and will adjoin the state to new standards of defense, security and armaments.

Experts discussed the main warnings about Ukraine’s accession to NATO on the part of society, including:
- NATO – an aggressive bloc that provokes conflicts;
- NATO will be too costly for Ukraine;
- Ukraine’s accession to NATO will ruin relations with Russia.

Meanwhile, experts proposed a series of counter-arguments that deny the aforementioned warnings and should be used in a widespread information campaign with clarifications of the principles and foundation of NATO’s work.

Experts assessed the information campaign about NATO as ineffective. The following were among the reasons named for its ineffectiveness: the absence of funds in the state budget, the anti-NATO propaganda campaign during the last presidential elections and the drawbacks of the activity of Ukrainian mass media.

Experts also pointed out the fact that the state information program must be improved. There must be sufficient financial and educational support for such a campaign with the broad inclusion of the mass media. It is also imperative that non-government organizations with extensive experience and those that apply the most effective practices of their colleagues in the new members of the EU and NATO be included in the process.