Prague, Jan 11 (CTK) – Terrorist groups and individual terrorists pose the major threat to the Czech Republic at present, according to 81 percent of respondents in a CVVM poll conducted at the end of last year and released yesterday.
Terrorism is followed by international organised crime, refugees and radical religious movements, the poll shows.
Out of the countries, people regard mainly Islamic State (IS) and Syria real threats to the Czech Republic.
The poll also shows that the Czechs’ fears of a possible danger connected with the refugee crisis and terrorism have intensified since 2014.
International organised crime is viewed as a big threat by 66 percent of Czechs and about the same share of respondents consider refugees and radical religious movements such threats.
Compared with 2014, the fears of refugees have doubled from 32 percent to 65 percent.
Moreover, the share of people who fear terrorists the most increased by 19 percentage points and radical religious movements by 15 percentage points.
Most Czechs do not consider foreigners living in the Czech Republic a serious threat to its security. People assess the ultra light and ultra left group in the same way.
Foreign intelligence services are viewed as the least danger.
Asked whether the major threats to the Czech Republic are wars, epidemics, natural disasters, a raw material crisis or a world economic crisis, Czechs most often mentioned the threat of war.
Since 2014, the fear of a war conflict has increased. At the end of last year, a half of Czechs considered it the major threat to the country, while a year before it was only 29 percent.
The other areas are assessed as minor risks. Czechs fear natural disasters the least as only 23 percent consider them an immense threat. One-quarter view a raw material crisis and epidemics in the same way, while a world economic crisis is considered a serious threat to the country by 30 percent of Czechs.
Asked about the countries that pose a serious threat to the the Czech Republic’a security, more than a half of respondents mentioned Muslim countries that face unrest, armed conflicts and terror. Thirty-five percent of the polled mentioned IS in particular, followed by Syria that 20 percent of Czechs consider a security threat.
Russia was also mentioned among the countries posing a threat to the Czech Republic – 17 percent of people listed it now, which is 11 percentage points less than in 2014.
The CVVM also asked about the Czechs’ expectations for the future.
Two-thirds of respondents were optimistic about their own future and the future of their families and close relatives, while the same share of respondents were pessimistic when it came to the future of Europe and humankind. The results have not considerably changed since the previous poll.
The CVVM conducted the poll on 1000 people over 15 in the fist half of last December.
