The most positively viewed nations by Czech people are Slovakia, Switzerland, Austria, and the Netherlands. Credit: Freepik.
Prague, Nov 12 (CTK) – Czechs have the best relationship with Slovakia, followed by Switzerland and Austria, while the war in Ukraine has significantly worsened Czech public attitudes towards Russia, which is now the least positively viewed by Czechs, according to a poll conducted by the STEM agency and released yesterday.
Russia is followed by China and Turkey as the countries Czechs like the least.
At the start of the war, positive assessments of Ukraine increased, but have now returned to a similar level as before the war.
Respondents gave different countries marks on a scale from 1, for the most positive view, to 5, for the most negative. Slovakia received 1 or 2 from 73% of Czechs, Switzerland from 65%, and Austria from 64%.
The Netherlands also received over 60% of 1s and 2s; other countries with over 50% of scores in these grades included Norway, Sweden, Italy, France, Britain, Canada, Denmark, Croatia and Belgium.
Poland received 49% of 1s and 2s.
By contrast, Russia was the only country with more than half of respondents scoring it with a 5; just 12% of Czechs gave it 1 or 2.
China received 1 or 2 from 15% of the respondents, and Turkey from 18%. These were followed by Serbia (28%), Ukraine (30%), and Taiwan (31%).
“Viewed over time, the popularity of western powers such as the USA and Germany has declined. However, they are still assessed more positively than Russia, China or Turkey,” wrote STEM.
In the latest poll, Germany received 1 or 2 grades from 46% of Czechs, and the USA from 37%.
Russia’s downfall is documented by the fall in its average mark, down to 4, from an average last May of 3.4.
“China, previously the worst-rated country, is now somewhat better off in the comparison, with a steady average of 3.5. Ukraine has not improved its evaluation compared with 2021, still having an average mark of 3.2,” the pollsters said.
The poll was conducted on a sample of 1,052 Czechs over 18 between 29 September and 9 October.
