Nearly half of German voters see Russia as a threat, survey shows

Almost half of German voters believe Russia poses a threat to their country, according to a YouGov survey conducted for dpa.

Some 13% of respondents consider Moscow to be a very significant military threat, while another 36% view it as a considerable threat.

By contrast, 30% said Russia posed only a minor threat, and 14% see no threat at all.

The survey results reveal stark divides along party lines. Between 58% and 62% of those who vote for the conservative CDU/CSU alliance, the Social Democrats (SPD) or the Greens believe Russia poses a significant or very significant threat, while one-third among these groups sees little or no threat from Moscow.

Supporters of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) took the opposite view: 65% said Russia posed little or no military threat, while 29% saw it as threatening.

Voters for the populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, which is not represented in parliament, responded similarly, with 33% viewing Russia as a threat, and 51% seeing no danger.

Among supporters of The Left party, opinion was almost evenly split, with 48% considering Moscow a threat compared to 47% who do not.

The German government, which sees Russia as a clear danger, is working to ramp up spending on its armed forces and increase its troop numbers in the coming years.

“This course is the right response to a threat that we can all see every day, at least after Russia’s three-and-a-half-year war of aggression against Ukraine,” Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, of the SPD, said in a recent parliamentary debate over Germany’s budget.

Source: dpa