Slovaks trust Russia the most and the USA the least, according to a survey carried out on respondents from the Višegrad Four countries (the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia). Conversely, Poles trust the USA the most and Russia the least. Czechs and Hungarians lie somewhere in between.
The sociologists from the Institute for Public Affairs, a co-author of the study, explained a higher level of trust among Slovaks towards Russia when compared to their neighbours by the pro-Russian legacies of certain representatives of the Slovak national revivalist movement in the 19th century, led by Ludovit Stur, by the country's industrialisation after WWII, or by a technological upswing in Slovakia's agriculture during the Communist era. "Polish distrust in Russia is deeply embedded in past experiences and fomented by the current political discourse", said Ol'ga Gyarfašová from the Institute of Public Affairs.
The study shows that all Višegrad Four countries are relatively highly distrustful of Ukraine, which may well be caused by fears of political instability and threats related to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. A lack of information and other long-term aspects might also be reasons. When it comes to mutual cooperation, Slovaks are most likely to see this as meaningful, followed by Czechs, Hungarians and Poles. People are most interested in mutual economic and trade cooperation, followed by defence and security and pushing through joint initiatives at the EU level. Almost 80 percent of both Czechs and Slovaks trust each other. Next in line in terms of trust among Slovaks are Austrians and Poles. Hungarians came on the ninth place. Apart from Slovakia, Czechs place the most trust in France followed by Poland, Great Britain and Austria. Hungarians are most trusting of Germany followed by Poland. Czechs and Slovaks were in joint fourth place.
