Czech Republic: Poll shows only 4 % of citizens have good relations with Roma

According to a survey conducted by the STEM agency, the results of which were made available to the Czech Press Agency, 69 % of the citizens in the Czech Republic have a negative relationship with Romani people and only 4 % have a “good” or “very good” relationship with them. Compared to last April, the number of people with negative views has slightly declined.

The number of citizens who believe ethnic minorities should be able to live according to their own customs and traditions has risen. Four-fifths of the public also believe that the rights of Romani people are receiving sufficient attention.

The survey found that 9 % of people in the Czech Republic are completely indifferent to the Roma. One-fourth of the public takes an unequivocally negative stance toward them, 14 % loathe them, 30 % of respondents somewhat reject them, and 18 % said their relationship toward Romani people was the same as their relationship toward everyone else. Over the long term the results have not significantly changed, according to the agency.

Three years ago, after a Romani family was attacked in Vítkov, the negative stance of the public toward Romani people reportedly softened. "The results from a year ago showed an opposite growth in negative relationships with Romani people. This most probably was linked to the events in the Šluknov foothills or Břeclav. During the second half of 2012, those sentiments slightly declined, and that development has continued this year as well,” the authors of the survey said.

Only 19 % of people agree that the Czech Republic should do more to safeguard Romani people’s rights. Last April, 4 % fewer people agreed with that claim. When asked whether every minority should have the opportunity to live according to their own customs and traditions, 49 % of respondents agreed. Last year only 43 % of people expressed such convictions.

STEM reports that public opinions about Romani people’s rights are relatively stable. However, there have been enormous changes regarding responses to the issue of minorities living according to their own traditions since the agency first started asking the question in 1994, when as many as 63 % of citizens recognized such a right and roughly two-fifths were opposed to it. Now the opposing views on this question are almost equally represented in the polls.

STEM conducted its survey on the relationship of people in the Czech Republic toward Romani people between 2 and 9 April 2013. One thousand people age 18 and older participated.