(In)security of ukraine

After the events in Ukraine, a lot of people thought that there has been a significant change in the Ukrainian society. That there has been a major shift in a way people think about their own country and the threats it has to face. But has there really been a significant change? The main goal of the thesis was to find out how has the perception of security by the Ukrainian society changed since the events of 2013-2014. In order to be able to answer the main question of the thesis, there have been raised these two tasks: 1. To find out how the securitizing actors had constructed the perception of security of Ukraine. 2. To find out what was the reaction of the society. The main hypothesis of the thesis is that after Euromaidan, annexation of Crimea and the ongoing conflict in the Eastern part of Ukraine, there has been a slight shift in the perception of the security but it did not last for long and there were no actual changes in the way people think about the security of their country within the Ukrainian society. The key findings were that: • Before the events took place, Ukrainian society perceived Russia as a friendly neighbour and partner. • After the events and up until today, Russia is perceived as a threat and most of the people claim to have “cold” or “very cold” feelings towards this country and the situation is not likely to change. • Until 2013, Ukrainian people thought that the main issues for their country are corruption, unemployment and low industry production. • For a while, from 2014 to 2016, Ukrainian citizens had thought that the conflict in Eastern Ukraine that has been started by Russia is the main issue that the country has to face. • But the polls show that in 2017 the conflict in Donbas is not seen as the main threat anymore, only one of the main ones. According to respondents, the main issue that Ukraine has to face is corruption. This means that the hypothesis was only partially confirmed. There was a significant change in the perception of Russia, which plays a big part when it comes to the security of Ukraine, but there was only a temporary change in the perception of the threat. The situation in Ukraine has a major impact on overall situation in Europe and the perception of Russia all over the world. There should be more research done on this particular topic since the situation is still very recent and not that well researched, especially when it comes to media’s analysis. This thesis may have lied some grounds further research. What is more, the presidential and parliamentary elections will be held in Ukraine next year and the results could be even a better indication about the way people feel about their country and the path that they prefer