Major problem for Ukraine now is to preserve territorial integrity

Ukrainian political analyst Mikhail Pogrebinsky believes that today most Ukrainians comprehend the question of Ukrainian territorial integrity in different ways. He made the statement to a REGNUM.ru correspondent in Kiev today, on August 24, on the Independence Day, commenting on the evolution of the concept independence In Ukraine within last 16 years.

“There is no definite answer to the question how the concept of independence has changed, as the concept is not unambiguous by itself. The notion of an independent state is better discuss with the help of figures, under results of sociological surveys,” the analyst believes. “When we муку voting on independence, there were two referenda with different results. As a result of a referendum in December 1991, it finally became clear that Ukraine was becoming independent, over 90% voted for it. Then, understanding of independence was also different, but many saw declaration of independence as the only possibility for Ukraine. The thing is, the big country, the Soviet Union, was collapsing then and we needed to survive anyway. Of course, there were many enough Ukrainians who were dreaming of establishing their own state,” Mikhail Pogrebinsky said about reasons for such will of the people.

“Today, the question is not on the agenda whether Ukraine can become a part of any other state. Today, the question is whether the Ukrainian territorial integrity will be maintained. In this case, independence and threat acquire a kind of another meaning. For instance, many people believe that involvement of Ukraine into NATO is a threat to Ukraine’s independence. Others, on the contrary, think that if Ukraine remains outside NATO, it will fall under Russia’s influence again. There are many different notions,” the analyst concluded.

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