The Czech public overwhelmingly (89%) agrees that the sovereignty of the state must be defended at all costs. Despite this, almost two-thirds (63%) of respondents doubt the Czech Republic's ability to defend itself if something were to happen. Just under half (47%) of respondents do not consider the defence of the Czech Republic to be essential because we are a small country whose fate is equally in the hands of the superpowers, but a comparable proportion of citizens think the opposite. Two-fifths of respondents (40%) think that our army is on a comparable level with the armies of Western countries, but a comparable proportion thinks that defence spending is just an unnecessary burden on the budget (39%). For these two statements, disagreement outweighs agreement, and is expressed by about half of the respondents.
Almost two-fifths (39%) of respondents are "definitely satisfied" with the Czech Republic's membership in NATO, and another almost two-fifths (37%) are "somewhat satisfied". Approximately one-seventh (13%) of respondents said they were dissatisfied with the fact that the Czech Republic is a NATO member.
Almost two-thirds (65%) of respondents expressed the view that NATO's existence and actions have a positive effect on the security of its members, while around three-fifths appreciated its positive impact on peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic region (61%) and on relations between member states (58%).
Almost four-fifths of Czech citizens are convinced of the need for the North Atlantic Alliance today, with half (50%) describing it as "definitely needed" and another almost three-tenths (29%) as "rather needed".
More than half (52%) of Czech citizens would support the creation of a European wing within NATO, and more than two-fifths of the public (43%) view positively the idea of creating their own European army independent of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
>> Full text is available in Czech only <<
- Download the full press release here: pm250514.pdf
- All reports from this survey: PNS_2503
