As of: January 30, 2024, 9:44 p.m
By: Bettina Menzel
Comments
Press
Split
A new survey shows how little trust the population has in traffic lights.
© IMAGO (2) / Bihlmayerfotografie / dts news agency
The Allensbach Institute published the 2024 safety report. The survey shows how little trust the population has in traffic lights.
Berlin – The population in Germany currently feels less safe than in previous years.
This emerges from a representative survey by the Allensbach Institute for Demoscopy on behalf of the Center for Strategy and Higher Leadership.
The “Security Report 2024” highlights inflation, wars, the uncertain world situation and low confidence in the ability of those in power to act as reasons for the uncertainty.
A clear slap for the traffic light coalition.
The influx of refugees also apparently worries Germans; there are still clear differences between East and West - over 30 years after reunification.
Traffic light government under criticism: Survey on perceptions of security in Germany
Peace reigned in Europe for over 70 years.
However, the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the situation in the Middle East and the uncertain world situation are apparently shifting the Germans' sense of security: Currently, 61 percent of the population overall feel safe.
Two years earlier, before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, this value was 76 percent.
According to the researchers, those surveyed now perceive the situation in the Middle East to be as threatening as the Russian war of aggression.
Most people see Russia as the greatest threat to peace in the world: 80 percent of people in the West are of this opinion, as are 53 percent of those surveyed in the East.
West and East Germany are currently drifting apart, explained the head of the opinion research institute, Renate Töpfer.
“This is a problem that receives far too little attention,” the scientist continued.
According to the study, 76 percent of people in East Germany and only 44 percent in the West fear that Germany could be drawn into military conflicts.
Opinions also differ on other questions: According to the security report, 68 percent of people in the East and 46 percent of those surveyed in the West feel a “general uncertainty about what will happen next.”
65 percent of those surveyed consider the federal government’s refugee policy to be “not right”
According to the security report, people in the East are more worried about the influx of refugees to Europe and the development of energy and heating costs than their compatriots in the West.
However, the population's overall approval of the federal government's current refugee policy is comparatively low.
65 percent of those surveyed stated that they did not consider this to be correct.
According to the security report, over 80 percent of those surveyed have little or no trust in the federal government's migration policy.
This criticism is stronger than average among people with low incomes and little education as well as among supporters of the AfD (98 percent) and FDP (88 percent).
However, the security report does not specifically reveal what criticism the respondents have of the government's refugee policy.
However, almost half (48 percent) of those surveyed said that crime in Germany was increasing due to the influx of refugees.
In 2016, only 37 percent came to this assessment.
About the background of the survey:
The 2024 Security Report is based on a total of 1,018 oral-personal interviews with a representative cross-section of the population aged 16 and over. The survey was conducted between January 5th and 18th, 2024. Surveys always represent snapshots.
My news
Russian military aircraft spotted near Rügen: Air Force catches pilot reading
“Lost interest in the topic”: Aiwanger is criticized after outrage over left-wing extremism
Risk “very high”: Austria warns of attack from Russiaread
“The enemy is gathering troops”: According to Ukraine soldiers, Putin is preparing a major attack read
Russia reacts to major NATO maneuvers – and threatens “tragic consequences” read
Putin's T-90 is defeated in a duel - a steel colossus full of weak points
Allensbach: 44 percent of those surveyed consider AfD supporters to be dangerous
The pollsters also presented respondents with a list of groups that they should rate according to their risk potential.
Of these preconceived options, 86 percent of those surveyed see a great danger posed by Islamist groups, while 81 percent recognize such dangers from “clans, large families from the Arab region.”
The term “clans” is controversial because, according to critics, it stigmatizes people with a migrant background simply because of their family affiliation and origin.
76 percent of those surveyed also consider right-wing extremists to be very dangerous, while 46 percent see great dangers posed by left-wing extremists.
Meanwhile, 44 percent of AfD supporters rated it as a major danger, although significantly fewer people in the East (29 percent) made this assessment of the party's potential threat.
Nationwide, 30 percent rate climate activists as very dangerous, according to the report.
Scholz is self-critical: “When those who govern argue with each other too often”
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is well aware of the mood in the country.
Even before the security report was published, the Chancellor acknowledged mistakes made by his traffic light government.
It doesn't exactly contribute to the feeling of security when those who govern argue with each other too often, said the Chancellor self-critically in an interview with Die
Zeit
.
“As Chancellor, I bear responsibility for the government,” said Scholz in the conversation published on Wednesday (January 24).
“It would be absurd to say I had nothing to do with it.”
He perceives the mood in Germany as restless, and Scholz cited the “economic and political upheavals caused by the Russian attack on Ukraine” as the reason. At the same time, there is a sense of uncertainty “because we, as an economically strong country, are in the process of setting the course “So that there are still good jobs here in 20 and 30 years and we remain at the forefront of technology,” said the Chancellor.
Germany's economy is suffering, among other things, from an acute shortage of skilled workers.
The Federal Republic needs 1.5 million immigrants every year, recently said the chairwoman of the Economics Committee, Monika Schnitzer
(bme with dpa).