Slovaks are mostly fearful of threats of terrorism, the deepening of social differences in society and also the stagnation and decline of Slovak education. This stems from a representative survey carried out by the Institute for Public Affairs (IVO), a Bratislava based think tank. In addition to "domestic threats," Slovaks also fear developments occurring beyond the borders. "A possible weakening of the European Union (EU) was a concern for 52 percent of respondents, 47 percent of them mentioned the risk in the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine and 41 percent that one of the disinformation campaigns being led by Russia against the West," said sociologist Zora Bútorová from the Institute for Public Affairs. She added that there were no significant differences in responses in the survey, depending on the gender, the age, education, or residence of the respondents. "These views are evenly distributed throughout the spectrum of people addressed," she said.
However, when it comes to sympathy for political parties, the level of concern about the possible weakening of the EU was differentiated. "For example, the majority of supporters of the parties Freedom and Solidarity, OĽaNO, the Slovak National Party, Most-Híd and Sme Rodina saw the weakening of the EU as a threat to Slovakia, but only half of Smer-SD and Christian Democrats' fans had said the same. The least concerned were the far-right supporters," said Bútorová. The survey was conducted in mid-September.
