72% of respondents do not expect a peace deal in Ukraine in the next year. Credit: Freepik.
Prague, Dec 28 (CTK) – Almost three-quarters of Czechs do not believe that peace will be negotiated between Ukraine and Russia next year, according to a December survey conducted by Median for Czech Radio and released yesterday. A slight majority of respondents are in favour of supporting Ukraine at least to the same extent as before.
Concerns about the spread of the conflict in the Middle East are relatively low, the iROZHLAS server of Czech Radio reported yesterday.
72% of respondents said a peace deal in Ukraine, which has been resisting a Russian military invasion since last February, is not expected in the next year. This opinion is more common among younger, university-educated people who voted for the parties of the ruling coalition and President Petr Pavel.
On the other hand, 18% of respondents expect an end to the war. “A negotiated peace is more likely to be expected by those who supported the anti-EU Freedom and Direct Democracy or ANO in the latest parliamentary elections. These are predominantly middle-aged people, ie. people in their forties and fifties, ” said Ivan Cuker, a Median sociologist.
A tenth said they did not know.
51% of people in the Czech Republic are in favour of the United States and allies supporting Ukraine next year at least, at the same level as now. Again, young people and voters of the ruling coalition and President Pavel are more likely to support this. Some 41% of people were opposed, while the rest of the respondents had no opinion on the matter.
Fears that the fighting between Israel and Hamas could escalate into a global conflict are relatively low in Czech society, iROZHLAS reported. Nearly two-thirds of people in the Czech Republic believe the war will not spread beyond the Middle East region.
Men, young people and those with higher education are the least worried about it, and they are mainly voters of the ruling coalition and President Pavel.
More than a quarter of Czechs are at least moderately worried about the spread of the conflict, while 11% of respondents were undecided on this question.
Israel launched an extensive military operation in the Palestinian Gaza Strip after Hamas gunmen attacked southern Israeli territory on 7 October, killing more than 1,000 mostly civilians and kidnapping hundreds more. Since then, over 21,000 people have been killed in Gaza, accompanied by an intense humanitarian crisis.
The Median flash poll for Czech Radio involved 1,009 people over 18 on 11-12 December.
pvr/dr/hol
