Forsa Flash Poll
Backing for Scholz: majority of Germans support tank deliveries to Ukraine
Chancellor Olaf Scholz initially wants to provide Ukraine with 14 Leopard main battle tanks
© Sean Gallup / Getty Images
After Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s decision to deliver battle tanks to Ukraine after all, a quick poll shows: Scholz has the majority of Germans behind him.
After the federal government decided to supply the Ukraine with Leopard-type main battle tanks to defend it against Russia, a slim majority of the population now agrees to this measure. According to a quick survey by the opinion research institute Forsa for RTL and NTV, 53 percent of German citizens think the procedure is right, 39 percent don’t think it’s right. The decision continues to be rejected by a large majority of East Germans and above all by the supporters of the AfD.
41 percent of citizens believe that the delivery of main battle tanks by Western countries will enable Ukraine to win the war and push Russia out of the occupied territories. 47 percent don’t think so. Most often, supporters of the Greens assume that the supply of tanks will allow Ukraine to win the war.
Majority against delivery of fighter jets to Ukraine
43 percent of those surveyed think that the delivery of battle tanks to Ukraine could lead to a military reaction by Russia against the West and also against Germany. 47 percent don’t think so. 39 percent of the citizens believe that Germany has become a “belligerent” in the conflict by supplying arms and tanks to Ukraine. 54 percent consider this view to be exaggerated.
When asked about support for airspace, the picture is very different from that for tanks: 24 percent of respondents – most likely Green Party supporters (40 percent) – believe the West should support Kyiv – as suggested by some Ukrainian government officials demanded – also provide combat aircraft. The vast majority (63 percent) think the West should not do this.
The data was collected by the market and opinion research institute Forsa for the RTL Group Germany on January 25, 2023. Database: 1,007 respondents. Statistical error tolerance: +/- 3 percentage points.