War in Ukraine seen as “unjustifiable Russian aggression” by three quarters of Czechs
Three quarters of Czechs see the war in Ukraine as a case of “unjustifiable Russian aggression”, according to a survey conducted by the Median agency for Czech Radio on the occasion of the one year anniversary of the outbreak of the conflict.
The number of people who condemned the invasion, in line with the official government stance, is still high, but lower than the 87 percent who responded with the same answer a year ago. Meanwhile, an increase was noticeable among those who say that the Russian invasion was not a case of unjustifiable aggression, rising from 9 to 19 percent.
Young people and voters of President-elect Petr Pavel were more likely to condemn the war. Meanwhile, a favourable stance towards Russia was noticeable among the older group of respondents. The latter stance was also more common among people with an elementary education, the unemployed, or ANO and Freedom and Direct Democracy voters.
The number of respondents who said that they are worried about the impact of the war on domestic life fell from last year’s nine out of ten to eight out of ten. Přemysl Čech, the head of Median, told Czech Radio that he expected concerns would rise rather than fall, as Czechs have been impacted negatively by the conflict.
The greatest concerns were identifiable in fears regarding the effect of the war on the continued rise in prices and that it will be a long-term conflict with many casualties. Both received 86 percent from respondents.
What did change significantly was the expectation among Czechs regarding how long the conflict will go on for. Last spring the majority of respondents thought that it would be up to half a year at most, with close to a tenth stating that it would be over within two weeks.
The 2023 survey, which was conducted last week among a sample of more than 1,000 people, showed that nearly three quarters of respondents believe the war will go on for at least another year.
Just over a half of all respondents, 51 percent to be exact, said that they want Ukraine to win the war, with more than a third stating that they want a temporary peace wherein no one would claim victory. Just under 10 percent of those who took part in the survey want Russia to emerge victorious.
