Large majority for binding arms export law

Berlin (dpa) - According to a survey, 70 percent of citizens in this country advocate a law against arms deliveries to warring states, in crisis areas and to countries outside the EU and NATO.

By contrast, 26 percent are against it, as a representative survey carried out by the Kantar polling institute carried out on behalf of Greenpeace. The peace and environmental protection organization presented the results on Thursday.

"An overwhelming majority of the population has clear ideas on which the federal government should now orientate itself. German weapons should no longer be used in crisis and war zones worldwide. This requires an arms export law with clear prohibitions," said Alexander Lurz, disarmament expert at Greenpeace.

According to the survey, support for an arms export stop to countries in the Yemen war coalition is even greater, including among supporters of the ruling parties: 82 percent of Union supporters are in favor. There are 99 percent of the SPD supporters.

The survey also highlighted how the role of the parties is perceived. The Greens (25 percent) are the most determined to fight arms exports, followed by the left (22 percent). The Union parties consider 46 percent of the respondents to be the driving force behind German arms exports. Only two percent of the interviewees see such a driving role for the coalition partner SPD (AfD: 4 percent, FDP: 2 percent).