The new poll has revealed that trust in the EU, NATO, and the UN among Czechs is falling sharply, highlighting the growing discontent among the working and middle classes as they struggle to cope with inflation and the cost of living hikes brought on first by the pandemic and now compounded by sanctions related to the Russo-Ukrainian war.
The survey, conducted by the Center for Public Opinion Research (CVVM), indicates that the European Union is trusted by the fewest Czechs since 2016, the year of the European migrant crisis, with less than half (46%) of the population reporting having trust in the pan-European institution this year, down from 58% last year, the Prague-based news website Irozhlas reports.
Meanwhile, trust in other multinational institutions like NATO and the UN has dropped precipitously as well. Today, 56% of surveyed Czechs trust the US-led North Atlantic Treaty Alliance (NATO), compared to 67% last year, while 52% trust the UN, in contrast with 63% last year.
Perhaps not so surprisingly, the survey’s researchers noted that, among the Czech public, trust in the UN, NATO, and the EU are firmly connected to one another, meaning if a person or a group trusts one of the institutions they are significantly more likely to trust the other two.
Regarding the bodies and politicians within the European Union, trust levels were even more dismal, with just 38% of respondents reporting having trust in the European Commission, 36% in the European Parliament, 31% in President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, 24% in the President of the European Council Charles Michel, and 23% in the head of EU diplomacy Josep Borrel.
Oddly, despite their loss of confidence in the EU, NATO, and the UN, Czech citizens trust President Petr Pavel, the former Chairman of the NATO Military Committee who also served as the highest-ranking officer in the Czech military, more so than any other political figure in the country by a considerable margin.
Pavel has suggested that Russian citizens living across the West ought to be closely monitored by security services, saying that WWII-like measures are “simply the cost of war,” as The European Conservative previously reported. Earlier this year, he called for Ukraine to be admitted into NATO as soon as the war with Russia concludes.
The same CVVM survey revealed 59% of Czechs trust Pavel, former prime minister Andrej Babiš comes in at a distant second place, at 44%. The leader of the right-wing populist Social Democratic Party (SPD) Tomio Okamura, meanwhile, ranked third with respect to trust levels among the Czech population, at 35%.
Current prime minister Petr Fiala, who leads a staunchly pro-NATO, Atlanticist coalition government, enjoys a mere 28% of the Czech population’s trust.
