Mykola Tomenko: It is the Ukrainian History, not Soviet or Russian, that forms the Outlook of a Modern Ukrainian Society
28 September 2010, 16:46
Mykola Tomenko: It is the Ukrainian History, not Soviet or Russian, that forms the Outlook of a Modern Ukrainian Society
On Tuesday, Mykola Tomenko, Deputy Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, and Serhii Makeiev, Doctor of Sociology, Head of the Expert Council of Ukrainske Demokratychne Kolo agency, held a press conference "Whom do Ukrainians consider as their Heroes" at the UNIAN news agency.
Mykola Tomenko presented the results of the all-Ukrainian public opinion poll concerning the attitude of Ukrainians towards the cultural, historical and political figures. Ukrainske Demokratychne Kolo agency conducted the poll to order of the Institute of Politics.
Mykola Tomenko summed up the results of the all-Ukrainian public opinion poll in 2010, and compared it with a similar poll in 2002. He singled out two positive tendencies in the attitude of Ukrainians towards historical and political figures. Thus, the circle of prominent Ukrainians serving as a personal example for the public has widened. Mykola Tomenko stated that nine outstanding Ukrainian cultural and public figures entered the top ten of the positive prominent figures (see Appendix1).
Another positive tendency is a growing positive assessment of the contribution of Mykhailo Hrushevskyi into the Ukrainian history (from 53% to 68%), support of activity of Ivan Mazepa (from 38% to 50%), Viacheslav Chornovil (from 46% to 56%) and Pavlo Skoropadskyi (from 27% to 43%), who can be regarded as authorities (see Appendix2).
"As to the general public moods, there is a drastic inconsistency between the attitudes of people and attempts of the authorities to shape the outlook of modern Ukraine by the Soviet and Russian history," M.Tomenko stated.
According to Mykola Tomenko, the general conclusion of the recent public opinion polls is the fact that "Ukrainians appreciate the activity of the leaders of Ukrainian Statehood of the periods of Kievan Rus, Cossack epoch and the Ukrainian State of 1917-1920."
Appendix 1
Attitude to the Cultural, Historical and Political Figures
Appendix 2
Trends of Attitude to the Historical and Political Figures, 2002-2010