Of the world leaders selected, Pope Francis enjoyed the highest ratings among the population. In line with recent surveys, Czech citizens also have a very positive opinion of Slovak Prime Minister R. Fico. By contrast, Russian President V. Putin and primarily German Chancellor Angela Merkel have received predominantly unfavourable ratings. President of the European Commission J.-C. Juncker still remains little known among citizens.
This survey was conducted by the STEM non-profit institute (www.stem.cz) on a representative sample of the Czech population aged 18 and over from 13 to 21 June 2016. Respondents were selected using a quota sampling method, with some 1,061 people taking part in the survey.
In addition to looking at Czech attitudes towards various countries, in its June 2016 survey STEM focused on how the public rated foreign political figures, presidents and prime ministers of certain countries, the president of the European Commission and the head of the Catholic Church. The survey was conducted shortly before the British public voted on membership of the European Union and thus before the outcome of the Brexit referendum was known. The graph below plots the findings.
Rating of foreign figures
“Please give me your opinion on the following foreign political figures.”
Source: STEM, Trends 2016/6, 1061 respondents
Pope Francis
Pope Francis is unquestionably the highest rated international figure among Czech citizens, with over two-thirds of the public viewing him positively. Although this proportion is marginally lower than in our December 2015 survey (by 6 percentage points), he enjoys nonetheless the highest rating. Compared with his predecessor Benedict XVI, Pope Francis is still held in significantly higher regard by the Czech public (in 2009 Benedict XVI was rated favourably by 52 % of citizens).
Leaders of western European powers and Russia
A three-fifths majority of respondents rated British Prime Minister David Cameron positively in the June survey. President Barack Obama was rated favourably by over half the population. The public was undecided about French President Francois Hollande. Vladimir Putin and particularly German Chancellor Angel Merkel were rated negatively. If we examine the changes in the popularity of the five leaders since the December 2015 survey, D. Cameron and V. Putin have gone down slightly in the public’s estimation. There has been a more significant drop in F. Hollande’s popularity, while A. Merkel’s popularity is continuing to decline. The public view of B. Obama is similar to what it was in December 2015.
“Please give me your opinion on the following foreign political figures.”(proportion of “very favourable” and “somewhat favourable” ratings in %)
Source: STEM, Trends 2008-2016
Russian President Putin is rated more favourably by men than women (37 % and 28 % favourable ratings, respectively), the over 60s (39 %) and those with a primary education (41 %) or apprenticeship (35 %).
In relation to attitudes towards the German Chancellor, there is no significant difference among the various population groups. The October 2013 survey found that Angela Merkel was rated favourably primarily by the better educated in society. Her ratings have since considerably deteriorated in connection with the refugee crisis. The current survey shows a continued decline in positive ratings, but more so among the less-educated sections of the population.
Comparison of A. Merkel’s ratings by education for 2013, 2015 and 2016
(proportion of “very favourable” and “somewhat favourable” opinions in %)
*Secondary School Leaving Certificate, equiv. A Levels in the UK, High School Diploma in the US
Source: STEM, Trends 2013/10, 2015/12, 2016/6
In terms of socio-demographic factors, there are no significant differences in the public’s opinon of B. Obama, D. Cameron and F. Hollande, apart from the fact that the better educated are more likely to know the British Prime Minister and the French President.
Attitudes towards the heads of state of Russia, the US and Germany are very much influenced by political preferences. As expected, when compared with supporters of the other parliamentary parties, Communist Party (KSČM) supporters have a decidedly more favourable opinion of Vladimir Putin while are, on the contrary, more critical of Barack Obama. TOP 09 and Christian Democrat (KDU-ČSL) supporters rate Angela Merkel more positively.
B. Obama, V. Putin and A. Merkel’s ratings according to political party preferences
(proportion of “very favourable” and “somewhat favourable” opinions in %)
Source: STEM, Trends 2016/6, 1061 respondents aged 18+
Note: Given their low representation in the group, figures for ODS, TOP 09 and KDU-ČSL supporters are only approximate.
ČSSD is the ruling Czech Socialist Democratic Party; ANO is centrist party and one of the junior coalition partners; KDU-ČSL is the Christian Democrats and one of junior coalition partners; TOP 09 is a conservative opposition party; ODS is the liberal-conservative Civic Democratic Party, a right-wing opposition party; KSČM (Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia).
Eastern neighbours
Robert Fico enjoys a high level of popularity among our citizens. Time and again surveys have found that Czech citizens have a distinctly positive attitude towards Slovakia and its political representatives. A third of respondents do not know Hungarian Prime Minister V. Orbán. The majority of those who do know him rate him favourably, and he has the same proportion of positive ratings as in the last survey. The Slovak Prime Minister’s favourability rating is also almost identical to December 2015 figures.
“Please give me your opinion on the following foreign political figures.”(proportion of “very favourable” + “somewhat favourable” ratings in %)
Source: STEM, Trends 2009-2016
Robert Fico has a higher proportion of unfavourable ratings among university graduates and those with a secondary education, although a majority of these respondents also rate him positively.
R. Fico’s ratings by education
*Secondary School Leaving Certificate, equiv. A Levels in the UK, High School Diploma in the US
Source: STEM, Trends 2016/6, 1061 respondents aged 18+
The following graph illustrates the prime ministers of Slovakia and Hungary’s ratings according to respondents’ political affiliation. While Communist Party (KSČM) supporters are more likely to rate Robert Fico favourably, he is also positively rated by supporters of government parties. The only group in this category with a different opinion of Viktor Orbán are TOP 09 supporters, a significantly lower proportion of whom rate him favourably.
Robert Fico and Viktor Orbán’s rating according to political party preferences
(proportion of “very favourable” + “somewhat favourable” opinions in %)
Source: STEM, Trends 2016/6, 1061 respondents aged 18+
Note: Given their low representation in the group, figures for ODS, TOP 09 and KDU-ČSL supporters are only approximate.
ČSSD is the ruling Czech Socialist Democratic Party; ANO is centrist party and one of the junior coalition partners; KDU-ČSL is the Christian Democrats and one of junior coalition partners; TOP 09 is a conservative opposition party; ODS is the liberal-conservative Civic Democratic Party, a right-wing opposition party; KSČM (Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia).
European Union representative
President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker’s rating is unique in that a large proportion of respondents do not know him at all (40 %). The majority of those who do, rate him unfavourably (19 % positive opinions vs. 41 % negative). When compared to the findings of the December 2015 survey, there was no change in the proportion of respondents who did not know who the President of the European Commission was. The only difference was that there was a 3 percentage points’ increase in the proportion of those who viewed Mr. Juncker favourably. It is noteworthy that the October 2013 survey found that just under a quarter of respondents had never heard of Juncker’s predecessor José Manuel Barroso and the majority of those who had, rated him positively (48 %).