Prague, April 11 (CTK) – Two-thirds of people consider the tension between Czechs and foreigners very or fairly strong, which is a considerably higher share than in the past years when a half of people shared this view, according to a STEM poll released to CTK yesterday.
The respondents say the situation is connected with the refugee crisis.
Twenty-three percent of the polled describe the tension between Czechs and foreigners as very strong and 44 percent consider it fairly strong.
Young persons, respondents with lower education and left-wingers express this opinion more often than other groups.
However, the share of those who call the tension between Czechs and foreigners strong has increased in all social and age groups.
“We can monitor how the situation in Europe connected with the refugee crisis and terrorist attacks in European cities has influenced the public opinion in our country. Consequences are apparent not only in the reflection of the tension between Czechs and foreigners, but also in a less accommodating approach to foreign ethnic groups in our society,” the STEM pollsters said.
Three-fifths of respondents also perceive the tension between firms’ management and employees and between the rich and the poor.
In addition, 55 percent of Czechs register a strong tension between people with different political opinions, 38 percent between the old and the young and 27 percent between the city and the countryside.
“Apart from the above mentioned changes in stances on the tension between Czechs and foreigners, the assessment of discrepancies between various groups has not considerably changed since the previous poll three years ago. Data from previous polls only indicate the trend of a slightly decreasing number of people who consider the tension between the rich and the poor strong,” the pollsters say.
The poll was conducted on 1050 people from March 16 to 23.
