BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – According to a survey, a narrow majority of 52 percent of Germans would like Germany to exercise more restraint in international crises, also in view of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. In the representative survey published by the Körber Foundation on Monday in Berlin, 41 percent are in favor of Germany becoming more involved – albeit preferably diplomatically (65 percent) rather than militarily (14 percent) or financially (13 percent).
In August, the opinion research institute Kantar Public surveyed 1,088 voters aged 18 and over for the foundation.
According to the foundation, the attitude has hardly changed compared to the previous year (2021: 50 percent for restraint). The head of the international politics department at the foundation, Nora Müller, commented on the survey results by saying that the change in era proclaimed by Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) “has not yet arrived in the minds of Germans”.
It is striking that opinions in western and eastern Germany differ. For example, 44 percent of respondents in the West say Germany should get more involved, while in the East it is only 28 percent. 49 percent in the West and 66 percent in the East agree that Germany should continue to exercise restraint.
Although 68 percent of those entitled to vote reject a military leadership role for Germany in Europe, there is a willingness to expand Germany’s military capacities: 60 percent advocate permanently higher defense spending./bk/DP/mis