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German crew of a Leopard 2A6 main battle tank in Lithuania

Photo: Soeren Stache / dpa

A majority of the population supports the expansion of Germany's defense capability as sought by the traffic light coalition. According to a study by the management consultancy PwC, 68 percent of Germans support the project, but 63 percent also think that the “turnaround” announced by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) in March 2022 has not yet reached the Bundeswehr. The majority of those surveyed believe that the necessary investments are necessary: ​​57 percent support the intention to invest two percent or more of the gross domestic product in defense. 31 percent see this critically.

In 2014, NATO members decided to commit themselves to spending two percent of their economic output on defense. The federal government has emphasized several times that Germany will achieve this this year. Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) said that this level would also be guaranteed beyond 2028.

For the study, PwC is based on a representative survey of 500 men and women between the ages of 18 and 65 on January 9th and 10th, 2024. The results are based on a study from 2022 and will be published shortly before the start of the Munich Security Conference.

»In the survey from summer 2022, we were able to determine how much the population was shocked by the Russian attack on Ukraine and how clearly there was a change of heart on defense issues. The results from 2024 underline that people are still very concerned and want more efforts to strengthen security," explained Wolfgang Zink, who is part of the study's team of authors at PwC in Germany.

Majority sees Trump as a threat to Ukrainian defense

A total of 58 percent consider the expansion of the troop presence on NATO's eastern flank, especially with the planned German combat brigade in Lithuania, to be rather necessary. When asked about their attitude towards the Bundeswehr, only 45.5 percent of those surveyed expressed themselves positively. In 2022, 54 percent still perceived the Bundeswehr positively.

When it comes to the question of whether Ukraine will be able to successfully assert itself against Russia with the support of the West, Germans are skeptical: 39 percent see opportunities. 48 percent consider Ukraine's long-term resilience to be rather questionable.

Those surveyed are very skeptical about whether NATO and the West would continue their deterrence policy towards Russia as before if Donald Trump were re-elected as US President. Only 7 percent consider the USA to be reliable in this regard, while 15.4 percent have a fairly high level of trust. A clear majority of 59.1 percent expect that the USA would reduce its commitment to Ukraine under a Trump presidency.

In addition, according to the survey, 69.5 percent of Germans believe that the security situation in Germany has worsened because of the war in the Middle East, for example due to riots during demonstrations, anti-Semitism or possible Islamist attacks. Around one in two of those surveyed (52.1 percent) see themselves as not being adequately protected by the security authorities. 38.3 percent tend to perceive adequate protection.

czl/dpa