Prague - More than half of Czechs are satisfied with the Czech Republic's membership in the NATO. That is the result of the newest research performed by the Public Opinion Research Centre (CVVM) - the organization has questioned 1,042 Czech citizens over 15.
According to the release, 53 per cent of Czechs are happy with the country being in NATO.
The most optimistic are the voters of the right-wing Civic Democratic Party (ODS). The men of 20 and 29 years of age, entrepreneurs and people with higher education and higher levels of living standard are generally the groups that tend to be more favorable.
On the other hand, 23 per cent expressed their discontent. Scepticism is to be found predominantly among the seniors and left-oriented people, above all the voters of the Communists (KSČM).
The report explains that on the left-right scale of the political orientation, content with the country's membership in NATO tend to grow from left to right.
Defense budget? A useless burden
The majority of Czech citizens (85 per cent) agree that it is necessary to defend the country's sovereignty at all cost.
However, more than two thirds believe that in case of attack by other country, the Czech Republic wouldn't be able to defend itself.
More than half of the citizens see costs of defense as being a needless burden to the state budget.
It also appears that the society is divided the most by a question of the Czech army's development. Two fifths see our army comparable to Western armies, while roughly the equal part of the population thinks the opposite.
