Germans Want To Send Bundeswehr Soldiers To Ukraine
- 25.11.2025, 10:55
As part of a peacekeeping mission.
More than half of the German population, viz: 56% - would approve of sending Bundeswehr soldiers to Ukraine as part of a European peacekeeping mission in the event of a peace treaty between Moscow and Kiev. These are the results of The Berlin Pulse, an annual poll conducted by the public opinion research institute Forsa on behalf of the Körber Stiftung (Körber Foundation). They were released on Tuesday, November 25, "Deutsche Welle" reported.
59% of respondents favored further arms deliveries to Ukraine, which is defending itself against Russian aggression. Meanwhile, only 21% of respondents said they believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin is interested in achieving peace in Ukraine through negotiations.
Germans' security concerns
On this background, according to the survey results, Germans are growing anxious about their own security. Thus, 47% of the survey participants assessed the military threat from Moscow as "very high." This is much more than last year. Then this opinion was expressed by 39% of respondents in a similar survey. 54% of Germans also fear that Russia will try to influence public opinion in their country.
At the same time, 72% of Germans approve of the German government's intention to double the country's defense spending over the next ten years. At the same time, 61% of respondents do not want Germany to play a leading role in Europe in the defense sphere.
Germany's role in resolving international crises
On the whole, slightly less than half (48%) of the survey participants were in favor of Germany playing a more active role in resolving international crises. By contrast, 43% of respondents said they would like Berlin to be more restrained in this regard.
At the same time, the division between the west and east of Germany was clearly visible. Thus, 52% of residents of the former GDR and "only" 42% of West Germans were in favor of a more restrained position of the FRG. 51% of respondents in the West and 35% of East Germans want to see a more active position of their country in resolving international crises. In this regard, 72% of respondents would like Berlin to take diplomatic initiative.
When asked what is the main challenge in the field of international politics, 45% of participants pointed to the war in Ukraine, 39% - to the complex of problems associated with the Middle East conflict, 33% - to relations with the United States.
When it comes to Germans' views on their country's relationship with the United States, after nearly a year since Republican Donald Trump returned to the White House, 73% of those surveyed called the relationship "bad." By comparison, last year, when President Joe Biden was in power in the United States, 74% of participants in The Berlin Pulse survey considered relations between Berlin and Washington "good."
According to the survey, for the first time in three years, Germans no longer consider the United States to be Germany's main partner in international politics. In first place in this respect is France. It is considered the most important partner of the FRG in the international sphere by 46% of respondents. For comparison: 26% of respondents "voted" for the United States in this regard.
Only 38% of Germans consider Washington as a reliable partner as far as the war in Ukraine is concerned. Only 23% of respondents called the US a partner of Germany in the fight for democracy in the world.
At the same time, 38% of the survey participants regard the US as an economic threat to Germany. Last year, only 17% of Germans expressed this opinion. Only 35% of respondents believe that Germany can count on the protection of the American nuclear umbrella. At the same time, 75% of respondents said that Berlin should try to negotiate the extension of French and British nuclear protection to Germany.
German attitudes toward China
Today, fewer Germans than a year earlier consider China's growing influence to be a negative factor. In particular, 50% of Germans hold this opinion, while last year - 61%. At the same time, 42% of Germans have a neutral attitude to China's growing influence, and 7% - positively.
Nevertheless, 59% of the survey participants expressed the opinion that China is a "great economic threat". At the same time, the share of those who would support military assistance to Taiwan in case of its conflict with Beijing has decreased in German society: from 31% in 2024 to 24%.