Survey: Universities, SAV and Local Authorities Most Trusted Institutions

Bratislava, 31 May (TASR) - Universities, the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV), and local authorities rank among the most trusted institutions in Slovakia, it follows from a survey conducted by the Focus agency on behalf of the SAV, TASR learnt from SAV spokesperson Monika Tinakova. The survey was carried out in April on a sample of 1,020 respondents. Slovak universities ranked first in the trustworthiness chart, with 71.5 percent of respondents stating they “completely” or “rather” trust them. The SAV placed second, trusted by nearly 70 percent of those surveyed. Local authorities came in third, with 63 percent expressing trust. They are followed by the Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic (62 percent), the police (52 percent), Slovak Television and Radio (51 percent), the President of the Slovak Republic (50 percent), and trade unions (48 percent). Half of the respondents, on the other hand, expressed distrust toward state authorities. More than 50 percent distrust commercial media, non-governmental organizations, and large companies and corporations. About 63 percent of people do not trust the courts and the legal system, and Parliament faces the lowest level of trust. „In the regular 2025 trust measurement, SAV is the second most trusted among the compared institutions. A slight drop in the overall level of trust and a somewhat higher level of trust in universities in this survey may also be related to the activities of the SAV, which was often visible as a defender of scientific consensus on the topic of vaccines and the pandemic. This explanation could be supported by the parallel increase in non-respondents as well as in those who completely trust the SAV,” said Miloslav Bahna from the Sociological Institute of the SAV. mf/am