The Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV). (source: TASR)
In the latest survey of institutional trustworthiness conducted by the Focus agency for the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV), the most trusted bodies in Slovakia were found to be universities, the SAV itself, and local governments. On the other hand, the least trusted institutions are parliament, the judiciary, and the legal system. The survey was conducted in April on a sample of 1,020 respondents.
The SAV reaffirmed its position as one of the most trusted institutions in Slovakia. According to the poll, 68.6 percent of Slovaks either completely (21.8 percent) or somewhat (46.8 percent) trust the academy, which is Slovakia's premier public scientific research institution.
While Slovak universities topped this year’s ranking with a combined trust score of 71.5 percent, the SAV maintained the highest share of respondents who trust it completely – rising from 17.8 percent in 2023 to 21.8 percent in 2025.
Trust in the SAV remains high across all demographics, including both men and women, and is not significantly affected by education level. However, a rise in respondents who did not express an opinion about the institution – from 5.7 percent in 2023 to 12.1 percent this year – contributed to universities overtaking the SAV in the overall trust ranking.
Next in the ranking is the Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic (62 percent), the police (52 percent), state broadcaster Slovak Television and Radio (51 percent) – even though it only came into existence last year – the president of the Slovak Republic (50 percent), and trade unions (48 percent).
On the other hand, half of the respondents expressed distrust toward state offices, and more than 50 percent do not trust commercial media, non-governmental organisations, and large companies and corporations (with 36.8 percent expressing trust).
Approximately 63 percent of people do not trust the courts and the legal system (though 33.4 percent do). Only 27.4 percent of respondents expressed trust in parliament.
Share of respondents who have complete trust in the given institution (%) (source: SAV)
Commenting on the results, sociologist Miloslav Bahna of the Institute of Sociology at the SAV said: “In the regular 2025 trust survey, the SAV is the second most trusted among the compared institutions. The slight decrease in overall trust and a somewhat higher trust in universities in this wave may be linked to the SAV’s prominent role as a defender of scientific consensus on issues such as vaccines and the pandemic. This explanation could be supported by the parallel increase in respondents who either did not answer or expressed complete trust in the SAV.”
