Around 44% of Czechs want Ukraine to win the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, according to the results of a survey published this week by the Central European Digital Media Observatory (CEDMO) to mark the third anniversary of the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.
Support for Ukraine is higher in Poland, where 68% of the population want to see its victory. In Slovakia, less than one-third of respondents want the Ukrainians to win the war.
Of the three countries, Slovaks are the most likely to want a Russian victory in the conflict, with 17% of the population supporting such an option. In the Czech Republic, 7% of respondents expressed support for Russia, and in Poland, just 4%.
Almost two-fifths of people in the Czech Republic, one-third in Slovakia and one-fifth in Poland support ending the war in the form of a temporary peace, without either side winning.
“In terms of age, especially young people aged 16 to 24 in the Czech Republic want Ukraine to win (62%),” said CEDMO data analyst Lukas Kutil. In Slovakia too, Ukraine is mainly supported by younger participants in the survey, he said. “Among Polish respondents, on the other hand, the oldest respondents aged 65 and over are the most supportive of Ukraine’s victory (79%).”
The Median polling agency surveyed the opinions of the Czech population for CEDMO, while Ipsos conducted the survey in Slovakia and Poland. It was conducted in the last quarter of last year. In the Czech Republic, 2,999 people took part.
The survey also asked people in the Czech Republic and Slovakia about the scenarios of the Russian-Ukrainian war that they fear the most.
Respondents most often expressed concern that the conflict would last for many years (67% in the Czech Republic, 71% in Slovakia). Some 55% of Czechs and 60% of Slovaks fear the conflict will escalate into an open war between Russia and NATO. More than half of people in both countries are afraid of the fighting moving closer to Czech and Slovak territory.
