A large majority of Czechs (70%) agree with the country’s membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), according to a survey carried out by the STEM institute in January and released yesterday, 25 years after the Czech Republic joined the alliance on 12 March 1999.
Support for NATO membership went over 70% in 2001, and reached its highest point (78%) in March 2022, shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine.
“There is a noticeable strengthening of approval for NATO membership in times of crisis, in 2015 in the case of the migration crisis and in 2022 after Russia’s attack on Ukraine,” said Jitka Uhrová from STEM.
In September 2015, 76% of the population agreed with the country’s membership of NATO. The same high level of support was recorded in 2009, as pro-European attitudes strengthened under the influence of the first Czech EU presidency, which indirectly also strengthened the relationship with NATO, the authors of the survey noted.
Approval of NATO membership has a majority in all socio-demographic groups; it is slightly higher among younger people and also increases with educational attainment.
The Czech public’s trust in NATO as an institution has never fallen below 50% in the time it has been a member of the Alliance. Currently, 53% of Czech citizens have confidence in NATO.
STEM noted that this is significantly more than, for example, trust in the European Union (37%), but less than trust in the Czech army (62%).
Since 2007, STEM has also been tracking whether people have confidence not only in NATO as an institution, but specifically in NATO’s ability to ensure the Czech Republic’s external security.
Currently, 61% of Czech citizens trust NATO in this respect, compared to 70% in 2023 and 2022. In a longer-term comparison, according to the authors of the survey, 2015 stands out, when this trust weakened to 54%. “Probably due to the fact that at that time the security threat was perceived mainly in the context of the migration crisis, which required a non-military solution,” STEM said.
The survey was carried out among 1,057 people aged over 18 from 18-27 January.
