More than 70% of Czechs oppose the flying of flags of other countries on Czech state buildings, and 40% of people would like to see only the Czech flag, according to a survey conducted by the NMS agency for Czech Radio and released yesterday. About a third are in favour of the EU flag being flown alongside the Czech flag.
According to the survey, the majority of people approve of the removal of the Ukrainian flag from the Chamber of Deputies building, which was done after the election of the new Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Tomio Okamura (SPD).
The Ukrainian flag was flying at the lower house’s headquarters from the start of the Russian military invasion in February 2022, as a symbol of support for the invaded country. Politicians in the outgoing government criticised Okamura’s decision.
The highest support for flying only the Czech flag was found among voters of SPD and the other parties currently in the process of forming a coalition government.
“The opinion in favour of flying only the Czech flag is held most by SPD voters, some 74%,” said Tereza Friedrichova, an analyst at the NMS agency. “ANO voters are torn between two options, i.e. that only the Czech flag should be flown on state buildings or that the Czech flag and the EU flag should be flown on state buildings, but they barely support the flying of the other flags at all,” she added. She said the Motorists’ voters are in a similar position.
Supporters of the outgoing government and the Pirates are of a different opinion. Six out of 10 voters of Spolu and the Pirates are in favour of flying the flags of other states as a sign of solidarity. Almost half of STAN voters felt the same.
The poll also asked whether the new government’s policy statement should mention Russia as a security threat, as President Petr Pavel argued. 54% of respondents said there should be such a reference in the policy statement, while 31% opposed it, and 15% said they did not know.
The mention of Russia as a security threat would be welcomed especially by supporters of the outgoing government and the Pirates. 90% of Spolu voters, 86% of Pirate voters and 83% of STAN voters were in favour.
40% of those who voted for the Motorists and 30% of ANO supporters agreed, and the lowest support was found among SPD voters. However, according to the authors of the survey, opinions on Russia also differ according to the age and education of the respondents.
“The people who want to add a mention of Russia to the policy statement are mostly those with a university education and young people, for whom the topic of Ukraine is generally more important than for older people, who are also more often voters of Andrej Babis (ANO),” Friedrichova said.
A total of 1,012 people took part in the survey from 13-17 November.
