Ms. Yanasmayan, your institute conducted a quick poll on the war in Ukraine.

Can you outline the first results?

Johanna Dürrholz

Editor at the Frankfurter Allgemeine Magazin

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Yes, the DeZIM Institute conducts a panel survey four times a year.

My colleagues conducted a survey of 2500 people within this panel.

An impressive willingness to help was shown: an overwhelming 90 percent of those questioned spoke out in favor of accepting the people from Ukraine.

50 percent of those surveyed are willing to volunteer or donate.

And a quarter of those surveyed are even willing to offer refugees their own home.

Why is acceptance so great?

Also in 2015, when a lot of refugees came to Germany, the willingness to receive and help was unbelievably high.

The social commitment was there, we shouldn't underestimate that.

But the Ukrainian refugees can now travel more easily because of the visa-free regime.

It wasn't that easy for the refugees from Syria in 2015.

And yet there are differences to 2015?

Ukrainians are perceived as European – that also plays a role in receptivity, yes.

Many European countries have a history of being threatened by Russia.

What Ukraine is experiencing right now reminds many people in Eastern Europe of a familiar situation.

Part of Germany also has a history of Soviet occupation.

As a result, the current war is also affecting many people personally in this country.

From a formal point of view, the situation is different than when there is a civil war elsewhere and people are fleeing because of it.

Many people can identify with Ukraine, which is threatened by Russia, or they think: That could also happen here.

Many are also shocked by the events in Ukraine.

We also saw that in our survey: sanctions against Russia are supported by a large part of the population.

A military intervention by the West is rejected by a clear majority.

The welcome culture in 2015 was overwhelming at the beginning, but later the mood changed.

What were the reasons?

You have to look at it very differently.

If I now look at the practice, then many new projects have come about through volunteer work for the Ukrainians.

But there are also many older projects that have been helping refugees since 2015 and are now getting involved again.

These volunteers have not been lost.

What I think has tipped is politics across the EU.

We have seen strong policies of scaremongering and criminalization of migrants.

European politicians have done a lot to ensure that people from countries like Afghanistan no longer come to Europe.

To this end, it sought cooperation with states such as Turkey and relied on externalizing the problem.

But if you look at the recent events in Afghanistan, you see:

States like Turkey and Iran no longer want to take in so many people from Afghanistan and have closed their borders themselves.

And this despite the fact that Afghans are among the most vulnerable refugees.