Life Isn’t Better, Eastern Europe Survey Suggests

An overwhelming majority of Czechoslovaks, Poles and Hungarians believe that economically they are as bad off today as they were under communism, if not worse, according to a poll released Tuesday.

Even so, only a tiny percentage of the 3,533 people surveyed expressed a desire to return to a socialist economy, the poll said.

The study was released by the American Jewish Committee and Freedom House, a New York-based organization that monitors political rights and civil liberties. The co-sponsors said that the results, which had a margin of error of plus or minus 1.6%, provide grounds for both hope and concern.

The euphoria that followed the fall of communism has worn off, replaced by a sense of “anxiety and impatience that can have a corrosive effect on democratic processes still in the formative stage,” said Freedom House Executive Director R. Bruce McColm.

Already, majorities in Poland and Hungary express a belief that economic reforms are not moving fast enough. And 58% of those surveyed in all three countries said that they are afraid the new programs ultimately will fail.

At the same time, 70% of the Czechoslovaks surveyed said they expect conditions in their country to improve over the next five years. The figure was 59% in Poland and 49% in Hungary.

Only 13% of Hungarians gave their non-Communist leaders excellent or good marks. The Polish and Czechoslovak governments fared better, receiving 31% and 27% favorable ratings, respectively.

While respondents made it clear that they do not favor a return to a completely socialist economy--only 4% in Hungary and Czechoslovakia and 3% in Poland wanted to step backward--they were sharply divided over what form of economy should replace it.

In Poland and Czechoslovakia, more people leaned toward a free-market approach. Hungarian respondents were almost equally divided between letting the market run the economy and retaining some elements of socialism.

The survey also probed Eastern European attitudes toward Jews. Overwhelming majorities in all three countries said they believe in Israel’s right to exist. However, significant percentages--50% in Czechoslovakia, 39% in Poland and 25% in Hungary--also said they endorse a U.N. resolution equating Zionism with racism. The poll found negative beliefs about Jews are strongest in Poland.