Russia's war against Ukraine: Majority supports German change in security policy

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Vladimir Putin, Olaf Scholz (during the Chancellor's visit to Moscow in mid-February): »A turning point« in security policy

Photo: Kay Nietfeld / dpa

Russia's war against Ukraine has driven the federal government to a historic change of course in German security policy, Chancellor Olaf Scholz is throwing decades of certainties overboard and himself speaks of a "turning point" (read more about the federal government's about-face here).

The social democrat can be confident that the vast majority of the population is behind him - this is shown by surveys by the opinion research institute Civey on behalf of SPIEGEL.

Around 78 percent of Germans support the fact that the federal government wants to realign its foreign and security policy after the Russian attack on Ukraine and strengthen the Bundeswehr with a special fund worth 100 billion euros.

Only around 16 percent think this reaction is wrong.

Support for the new course is equally high among the supporters of the traffic light parties and those of the Union - it is well over 80 percent in each case.

Around half of AfD supporters welcome the upgrade of the Bundeswehr, while only around a third of left-wing sympathizers do.

A good 5,000 people were surveyed for the current, representative survey between February 28 and March 2.

Read the background to the Civey methodology here.

The polls make it clear that Vladimir Putin's war is changing many people's attitudes towards Russia and its president.

According to this, a very large majority considers Russia to be a greater threat to Germany's security than before since the attack on the neighboring country: 81 percent see it that way, only 16 percent feel no greater threat.

Slightly more than 60 percent of the people state that they now assess Putin differently than before.

Around a third reportedly have not changed their mind about the President.

In a poll in early January, around half of Germans said they thought Putin was dangerous.

Also on the question of whether the Bundeswehr should rush to help other NATO member states in the so-called alliance case, the population apparently shares the attitude of the federal government.

Around three quarters thought it was right for German soldiers to actively support their allies in the event of an attack.

About 17 percent would be against it.

At just over 80 percent, approval is higher in western Germany than in eastern Germany (around 60 percent).

In his government statement last Sunday, Scholz emphasized that Germany was committed to providing military assistance to the western alliance "without ifs or buts".

However, the Chancellor again ruled out military intervention by NATO in Ukraine on Wednesday.

The Germans are more cautious about Ukraine's EU ambitions.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomed Ukraine's push to become part of the European Union.

Around 47 percent of those who believe von der Leyen's statement are correct, while 38 percent take a critical view of the plea for EU membership, according to the survey by Civey pollsters.

Here, too, there are differences between East and West: in West Germany, people are more open to Ukraine joining the EU than in East Germany.

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