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reporter found that only 5% of medical workers agreed to be vaccinated. Thirty kilometers away, in the frontline town of Krasnohorivka, AP reported: “Soldiers widely refused to be vaccinated.”
Ukraine and Israel are negotiating mutual recognition of "vaccination passports" for tourist travel, Yevhen Korniychuk, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Israel, told Ukraine 24 TV. In September, more than 4,000 Hasidic Jewish pilgrims plan to travel to Uman, Cherkasy region, for the High Holidays. Although Israel has the world’s highest vaccination rate for a major country – 44% -- some Orthodox Jews refuse to be vaccinated.
Ukraine support is an emphasis for Washington, Blinken says. The U.S. government is “very focused on supporting Ukraine”, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the House Foreign Affairs Committee on March 10. Media source unian.com reports that Blinken pointed to the Biden administration’s interest in supporting Ukraine’s democracy and its struggles against corruption and foreign aggression. Blinken also restated the American position that Crimea and Donbas are parts of Ukraine and criticized Russia for its failure to meet its Minsk Agreement responsibilities. Blinken’s remarks on Ukraine fit the expected change in tone from Washington, given the experience gained under the Obama administration during and after Maidan. We expect the administration to continue to support Ukraine, while at the same time not giving the Ukrainian government much of a break when it comes to corruption, the lack of reform, or half-measures in the directions Washington expects to see.
2.6 Polls & Sociology
For the first time since the coronavirus pandemic hit Ukraine, business expectations have moved into the positive territory of the Central Bank’s monthly survey. The mood inched up to 51.4 points, the first time since February 2020 that the index of business prospects have crossed the 50-point equilibrium, reported the National Bank of Ukraine. The survey of 269 companies was taken March 3-24, before the latest imposition of quarantine restrictions.
Ukrainians support for joining the EU has grown to 59% across the nation, according to a new Razumkov centre poll. Support for EU integration hits 76% of those aged 18 to 29, while it fades to 44% of people over 60. If there is a referendum on EU accession, the ‘yes’ vote rises to 80% of those who would definitely vote. Among opponents, about half say they would not bother to vote. Regionally, support for EU accession ranges from 84% in Western Ukraine, to the South, where opinion is split - 41.5% for and 42% against.
Some 69% of Ukrainians believe that events in the country are developing in the wrong direction, and only 16% believe that in the right direction, according to the data of a sociological poll conducted by the Ukrainian Institute for the Future (UIF), presented at Interfax-Ukraine on Monday.
It is noted that the number of negative assessments of the Ukraine's direction over the previous month decreased by 5%, while the number of positive assessments increased by 2%.
11 UKRAINE Country Report April 2021 www.intellinews.com