Slovaks prefer economic benefits in foreign cooperation

Pragmatic economic thinking prevails in public opinion when it comes to the idea of which countries Slovakia should cooperate with, according to the results of a survey carried out by the Public Affairs Institute (IVO) in September 2017. As TASR cited it 55% of the respondents chose the benefits of economic cooperation as a decisive factor. 47% of respondents were for the cooperation of mutually shared values and 34% think that Slovakia should establish cooperation based on language and ethnic proximity. When asked with which country Slovakia should have the closest relationship, as many as two thirds of the respondents named the Czech Republic. It was followed by three other neighbouring countries - Austria, Poland and Hungary. Next came Germany and Russia with approximately the same figures. IVO views the positions of Hungary and Russia as noteworthy. "While 10-15 years ago Hungary was perceived as a potential source of threat by the Slovak public, that's no longer true today," stated IVO. Moreover, according to the survey, 9% of Slovaks believe that the country should be oriented to the East, 21% are for the West, whereas 42% find the idea of a golden middle way most attractive.