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September, 73% praised the president. But in November, this figure was lower by 21%, since then this trend continues,” Hromadske commented. “At the same time, as can be seen, due to the general scepticism of Ukrainians about domestic politics, Zelenskiy, despite a serious collapse in the rating, remains the most popular politician by a wide margin.”
Another worrying trend is that the majority once again think that the country is going in the “wrong direction:” 68% of respondents believe that things in the country are going in the wrong direction, according to Rating, and only 18% said that in the right. Back in July, the gap was smaller - 63% to 22%. After taking over last year the majority of Ukrainians briefly believed the country was going in the “right direction.”
2.4 Ukraine’s new national security strategy
Volodymyr Zelenskiy signed on September 14 a new version of Ukraine’s National Security Strategy, a document emphasizing the main strategic directions that will drive future state policies in security matters. It’s the third iteration of this document, with the previous ones signed by Petro Poroshenko in 2015 and Viktor Yushchenko in 2007.
There are no major surprises in the document, which names Russia as an "aggressor state" and the country’s main "systemic threat," and integration into NATO and the European Union as Kyiv’s key "strategic course". And while the previous document only mentioned “creating the conditions for NATO membership,” the 2020 version outright calls for “the development of a special partnership with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in view of Ukraine's full NATO membership.”
The coronavirus pandemic makes an appearance: the virus' spread revealed "systemic problems in healthcare, biosafety and social protection, as well as a lack of preparedness in emergency response."
The strategy also names and ranks Ukraine’s international partners. The presence of Azerbaijan as a "strategic partner" is the odd one out, but the list is
11 UKRAINE Country Report October 2020 www.intellinews.com
