International Relations

The current issues of preparation for the attack on Iraq were repeatedly monitored by Public Opinion Research Centre after approximately half a year. At the present, a mere 28 % of Czech citizens would agree with the military conflict against Iraq, while in spring this figure reached as high as 39%. Support for a military operation without the mandate of the Security Council of the UN is considerably lower.

61 % of citizens are currently satisfied with the membership of the CZ in NATO; on the other hand 23 % of respondents expressed their dissatisfaction. The Czech public continues to see Czech membership in NATO as more or less a certain form of subordination of the country to foreign powers (50 %) than an instrument ensuring its independence (43 %). According to 49 % of citizens the membership of the CZ in NATO is an instrument ensuring peace and safety for the country; on the contrary 46 % see it as a factor bringing an increased risk of the Czech Republic being dragged into a war.

The upcoming NATO Summit in Prague is seen by almost a half of citizens (49%) unfavourably, by 37% favourably and 14% could not take a stand. A similar question asked before the meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in September 2000 was answered positively by the same number of respondents as in the case of the NATO Summit, however the amount of negative answers was significantly lower (32%).

According to the October survey, 26% of respondents rate activities of the European Union favourably and 11% are of the opposite opinion. 41% of citizens see EU activities as neither clearly positive nor negative. More than 70% of respondents agree with the statement that values of democracy and co-operation are asserted in the EU. On the other hand, according to 44%, equality is not practised in the EU, they also view critically the enforcement of justice and tolerance.

Citizenship is most noticeably manifested during elections; in case of the Czech entry to the European Union, the issue of the actual entry of the CZ to the EU, that is to say participation and voting in the referendum, is the first and most important decision, which will be followed by others – new citizens of the European Union will be voting members into the European Parliament on behalf of the Czech Republic.

65 % of citizens are very or at least “partially” interested in the entry of the CZ to the EU, which is 8 percentage points more than a year ago. In general, society has a prevailing opinion that the information about the process of the integration of the CZ in the EU is insufficient (59 %), with the opposite opinion scoring 33 %. However, among the people who are “very” interested in the entry of the CZ to the EU, there is a predominating opinion that the information is sufficient.

Respondents are mostly convinced about the partial loss of sovereignty of the country. Furthermore, on one hand people more frequently think that the membership of the CZ in the EU will bring greater security, greater legal and democratic safeguards, improvement in the quality of Czech legislation and economic benefits, but also risks associated with migration of the population and economic problems including a drop in the standard of living.

In June, the efforts of our country aimed towards the integration in the EU were supported by 56 % of citizens, while 25 % did not agree with it and 19 % did not have an opinion. These results correspond with the long-term findings of PORC characterised by a distinctive prevalence for the support of the entry of the CZ to the EU over the opposite opinion. 7 % of respondents said that they would definitely not come to the referendum in question and 13 % would probably not come.

71% of respondents think that the Beneš Decrees should continue to be in force, 4 % stood up for their cancellation. Expulsion is considered to have been just by almost two thirds of respondents (64 %), on the other hand a total of 22 % think it unjust. Compared with last year, the share of those that considered the expulsion to have been just, went up quite distinctly (+17 percentage points), however in 1995 their number was lower by only 12 percentage points.

Two-fifths of the Czech public tend to think that the responsibility for the existing conflict between Israel and Palestine is shared equally between the two warring parties, one fifth puts the blame on Palestinians and approximately one in twenty Czechs see Israel to be more responsible. Apart from this, disagreement with the practice of the Israeli army in the Palestinian territory dominates among our citizens (36 %) over the opposite opinion (21 %). 73 % think that there is a realistic possibility of further intensification of the conflict in Israel and in the occupied Palestinian territories. The opposite opinion is surpassed by the view that there is a danger of spreading the conflict into neighbouring countries. Expectations of achieving a peaceful solution for the Middle East crisis in the near future are rated by Czechs predominantly sceptically.