In a survey conducted in the second half of January 2026, the Public Opinion Research Center asked a series of questions concerning public attitudes toward the defense of the Czech Republic. On the issue of national defense, respondents expressed their level of agreement or disagreement with statements related to the defense of state sovereignty, the ability to influence their own defense, and the Czech Republic's army.
The share of those who trust the Czech army has grown year-on-year, while skepticism about the meaningfulness of defense spending and the possibility of deciding on the Czech Republic's defense independently, without the major powers playing a leading role, has weakened. The vast majority of respondents continued to agree with the idea of defending the sovereignty of the state at all costs.
The vast majority of the Czech public (92%) declares that the sovereignty of the state must be defended at all costs. Despite this, more than half (56%) of respondents expressed doubts about the Czech Republic's ability to defend itself if something were to happen.
Approximately half of the Czech public (49%) believes that our army is on a par with the armies of Western countries, while two-fifths (41%) believe the opposite. One-tenth (10%) chose the answer "I don't know."
Almost two in five (38%) respondents do not consider considerations of the Czech Republic's defense to be important because we are one of the small countries whose fate is in the hands of the superpowers, but a majority (58%) believe the opposite.
Approximately three in ten Czech citizens consider defense spending to be an unnecessary burden on the state budget (29%), while two-thirds (65%) disagree.
Due to a change in the CVVM's research methodology, the results of the presented survey are not directly comparable with the results of previous surveys conducted before 2025. More information about the new methodology can be found in this press release.
>>> Full text is available in Czech only <<<
- Download the full press release here: pm260220.pdf
- All reports from this survey: PNS_2601
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