East Germans fear the consequences
Majority of Germans welcome Leopard delivery
01/26/2023 09:31 am
According to a Forsa poll, more than half of Germans approve of the decision to deliver Leopard tanks to Ukraine after all. There is applause, especially from Green supporters. On the other hand, skepticism prevails among AfD supporters and East Germans.
Germany is supplying Ukraine with Leopard-type main battle tanks – and the majority of Germans support this decision. According to a Forsa survey commissioned by RTL and ntv, 53 percent of Germans believe that the decision to deliver main battle tanks to Ukraine is the right one. 39 percent think they are wrong. The rejection of the planned deliveries is particularly high among supporters of the AfD, with 86 percent of them speaking out against it, according to the survey.
Supporters of the Greens have the highest support for the supplies, at 83 percent – they are also the most likely to believe the tanks will help Ukraine win the war. At least 63 percent of them share this view. Skepticism about the decision is also greater in the East than in the West. 65 percent of East Germans consider deliveries of main battle tanks to be wrong, in the West it is only 33 percent. 59 percent of East Germans believe that this could lead to a military reaction by Russia against Germany.
East Germans also tend to answer yes (67 percent) to the question of whether Germany has become a party to the war as a result of the supply of battle tanks. Overall, however, 53 percent of Germans consider this view to be exaggerated, even if 43 percent of those surveyed are concerned about a military reaction from Russia. The vast majority (67 percent) does not support a delivery of combat aircraft, as was recently demanded from Kyiv.
Majority does not consider main battle tanks to be game changers
At least 41 percent of Germans can imagine that the supply of battle tanks by Germany and other Western countries will enable Ukraine to win the war and drive Russia out of the occupied territories. Germany, the USA, Great Britain and other Western countries are among the countries that want to strengthen Ukraine in its fight against Russia by supplying battle tanks.
US President Joe Biden announced in Washington on Wednesday that he would send 31 Abrams M1 tanks to Ukraine, correcting his government’s previous refusal to deliver such a vehicle. Chancellor Olaf Scholz, in turn, decided that Germany should initially send 14 Leopard 2 A6 main battle tanks. At the same time, the federal government granted other states, such as Poland, permission to supply their own Leopard tanks to Ukraine.