The “Security Report 2022” measures the pulse of German citizens. Economic fears dominate, while health risks are losing their terror. The proportion of those who would like the Corona crisis to be dealt with more liberally has increased.
While great trust is placed in the German Health Minister Lauterbach, Foreign Minister Baerbock – here with her Russian counterpart Lavrov – has to be content with low values.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is able to rein in his passion. However, during his relatively short tenure, he has repeatedly shown himself to be a passionate speaker – whenever he countered the view that Germany was torn apart. “In addition,” he said in the Bundestag, “I find that our society is not divided.”
The “Security Report 2022” published this Tuesday could make Scholz ponder. After all, 56 percent of all Germans, and thus 4 percentage points more than in the previous year, are “very worried” that society could become “more and more divided”. A high 70 percent would like the state to do more to combat these tendencies towards division. And that’s not the only revealing insight the report provides.
Since 2011, the Allensbach opinion research institute has been preparing the annual security report on behalf of the Hamburg Center for Strategy and Higher Management. He should assess what fears and risks are driving the Germans. For the current issue, a total of 1090 people were interviewed personally and verbally between January 6th and 20th, “representative of the German population aged 16 and over”.
In addition to the growing concern about a social split, another number is unflattering for the “traffic light”. The number of those who fear that “our government” could prove to be too weak in the face of a variety of problems shot up within a year from 24 to 35 percent. On the other hand, concerns that political stability as a whole could decline fell from 44 to 33 percent. In the third year of Corona, is there a decoupling of social feelings and trust in executive performance? Is Germany depoliticizing itself for the good of politics?
At least the trust capital is subject to different interest rates. As of mid-January, 62 percent of those surveyed trust Health Minister Karl Lauterbach to do “good work”, but only 23 percent trust Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. At 15 and 13 percent respectively, the approval ratings for the new Interior Minister Nancy Faeser and the new Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht, both of whom belong to the SPD, are catastrophic.
German paradoxes
Baerbock likes her bad rank all the less because her green cabinet colleague Robert Habeck receives a remarkable 43 percent. From this, the no less striking conclusion could be drawn that Habeck is perceived far more as a climate protection minister than as a federal economics minister, which he is also. At the same time as his relatively good personal esteem, the Germans interviewed stated that inflation was what worries them the most at the moment.
Against the development that “money is worth less and less”, 84 percent want a stronger commitment from the state, 70 percent name inflation as their biggest concern. In his first government statement as Economics Minister, Habeck announced that high inflation was “a particular burden, especially for low-income households”.
A year ago, Germans were primarily concerned about the economic impact of the Corona crisis. This fear slipped to second place, but at 66 instead of 70 percent it is still a significant tension factor. An unchanged 62 percent are worried about a geopolitically unpredictable situation and 54 percent – at a similarly stable level – about climate change.
In general, the Corona crisis is losing some of its horror in the general perception. 31 instead of the previous 43 percent feel threatened by new global pandemics, and 30 instead of 34 percent by infection with the corona virus. This, too, expresses a paradox: governments are trusted less, but the results of their work are less important.
The principle of the bear
Security also has a foreign policy component, and the balance has shifted enormously. A year ago, North Korea was rated as the greatest threat to world peace, ahead of Iran, China and Turkey and the Russian Confederation, which was far behind at 32 percent. Now Russia ranks first with 66 percent, China retained second, North Korea fell to third, Iran fifth. In between came Afghanistan.
For all their political leanings, the Germans seem to continue to follow the principle of the bear who wants to have his fur washed without getting wet. 72 percent overall instead of the previous 58 percent – but only 54 percent in the east of the republic – consider membership in NATO “for the security of our country” to be important. At the same time, only 44 percent demand that Germany should fulfill its membership obligations and participate militarily in the defense of a NATO country that has been attacked.
At the beginning of this year, the Germans were struggling with themselves and their principles. Sometimes they look relaxed at problems that they hardly trust anyone to solve, sometimes they worry a lot. Only the longing for stability is stable – albeit with slight tectonic shifts.
In 2021, 77 percent still agreed with the thesis that the greatest possible security is most important in Corona times and that the freedom of the individual must take second place when it comes to protection against infection, now it is only 66 percent. And at least 25 instead of 17 percent are committed to the rather un-German statement that freedom comes before security. Everyone, says one in four Germans, everyone can decide for themselves which protective measures to take and which not.