Milan Uhrík, head of the far-right Republika, on a billboard in June 2023. (source: SME - Jozef Jakubčo)
More than a fifth of young Slovak voters believe that governments are covering up the existence of aliens and a third believe Jews control the world, new research has revealed.
The findings are just a few of the results of a survey by the Focus polling agency for the Chcem Tu Zostať (I Want to Stay Here) non-partisan campaign to convince young people to vote in elections difference.
Researchers spoke to 712 people aged 18-25 to find out what young people think about several conspiracy theories.
Aliens
A total of 22 percent of respondents said that governments are covering up the existence of aliens and UFOs. This belief was most common among voters of the Republika party - 39 percent - followed by 32 percent of Smer voters, 20 percent of Hlas and 17 percent of Progresívne Slovensko (PS) voters.
In terms of the education of those who believed this, 28 percent had completed elementary education, 22 percent had secondary vocational education, 19 percent were high school graduates and 16 percent were university graduates.
Meanwhile, 25 percent of respondents believed vaccinating children does not work, and was just a way for pharmaceutical companies to make money from people. This belief was most widespread among supporters of the Republika movement - approximately 50 percent.
Jews control the world, some still believe
And 11 percent of respondents said Jews themselves were to blame for the Holocaust while 34 percent believe Jews rule and control the whole world. Again, support for these views was most frequent among Republika voters.
The survey also found that almost half of respondents (49 percent) believe that products are designed to break or become obsolete after a short period of time or before the end of their warranty period.
When it comes to party preferences, 71 percent of young voters of the far-right Republika party agree with the statement regarding planned obsolescene, followed by 51 percent of young voters of Hlas, and 41 percent of Progresívne Slovensko (PS) and Smer voters.
