Religious Freedom: The Case of Ukraine
Victor Yelensky Sunday, 1 June 2008
By 1998 Ukraine had changed from a promising new independent state with impressive resources and good European perspectives into a country with one of the most corrupt governments in Europe. The Ukrainian State had undermined its international reputation, especially as regarding the trust of Western partners. At the same time, apathy and disbelief at the changes were spreading over the different strata of Ukrainian society.
Yet against this background of deep disappointment in state institutions, manipulated media, indistinguishable political parties, and state-controlled trade unions, churches appeared as the country's most trusted social institutions. This shift was reflected in public opinion data (available from the Democratic Initiatives Foundation). Sixty percent of the citizens said the church can be trusted compared to 30 percent who said it cannot. By contrast, trust in public organizations did not exceed 32 percent, while mistrust in them sometimes exceeded 50 percent.
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