According to a survey conducted among more than 150 civil servants, politicians, journalists and experts dealing with the European agenda, the Czech Republic should enter the Eurozone by 2020 even though the Czech Central Bank is less enthusiastic about such a decision.

Vít Dostál, one of the authors of the study, expects Slovakia to be portrayed as a positive example by the proponents of the Prague’s accession. In a country traditionally perceived as Eurosceptic, an unlikely consensus on the benefits of Eurozone integration has surfaced among the president and the recently-created government.

When it comes to partners and allies in the European Union, Czech elites see Germany, Slovakia and Poland as the most important, followed by liberal countries such as Britain, Sweden and the Netherlands. The study also shows that Prague has a positive attitude towards HU, most probably due to the Visegrad framework. On the other hand, respondents do not see co-operation with France and southern EU members of a particular importance.

On Friday, the study conducted by the Association for International Affairs (AMO) was presented at the Central European Policy Institute in Bratislava by its author Vít Dostál and commented by Comenius University’s Jozef Bátora.