Proud to be Czech, but leave the politics aside

Say it loud: I'm Czech and I'm proudAutor: hravětší obrázek »

Prague - Roughly a half of all Czechs (49%) are proud to be citizens of the Czech Republic. Interestingly, the level of pride decreases with the level of wealth, a poll done by the Center for Research of Public Opinion last October found.

About two fifths of Czechs feel somewhat neutral about their Czech citizenship. And approximately 6% feel ashamed of being Czechs.

The survey also suggests those who are proud of their Czech citizenship are largely university educated people who in political terms see themselves as right wing oriented. Those are particularly Christian Democrat and Civic Democrat voters. They all consider their living standard rather high.

On the other hand, socially disadvantaged people, such as pensioners and people who see their living standard as low, feel ashamed of being Czechs.

Proud of sports and history, ashamed of politics

Unrequited love (a billboard with Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek)Autor: bonvětší obrázek »

Another interesting finding concerns the fact, that the number of people who would choose the Czech Republic as a country to live in, exceeds the number of those who feel proud of their Czech citizenship by nearly a quarter.

86 per cent of respondents feel proud to be Czechs because of the country´s sports achievements. Other fields of accomplishment Czechs feel positively about are history, culture, science and foreign missions of the Czech military.

The highest number of respondents are ashamed of Czech politics and political transformation after 1989.

Roughly the same number of Czechs, about one third, regard the state of democracy and human rights as good.