Nearly half of Germans endorse Ukraine using Western weapons to strike targets in Russia

The German public is divided over whether Ukraine should be allowed to use Western-supplied weapons to strike military targets in Russia, a recent poll has shown. Source: Forsa poll for RTL/ntv, as reported by European Pravda Details: A total of 49% of respondents believe that Ukraine should be able to use Western weapons to strike military bases in Russia that the latter uses to carry out attacks on Ukraine.

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Around 44% of respondents believe Ukraine should not be allowed to do so.

The poll revealed differences between the east and west of Germany: while 52% of residents of  Germany's west support allowing Ukraine to strike military targets in Russia, 62% of respondents of Germany's east oppose it. The differences are even greater among political parties: supporters of the Greens and the Free Democratic Party are most likely to be in favour if this decision (70% each), while supporters of Alternative for Germany (68%) and the Sarah Wagenknecht Alliance (75%) are most likely to stand against it. The data for the RTL/ntv poll were collected by the market and opinion research institute Forsa on behalf of RTL Deutschland from 31 May to 3 June among 1,001 respondents.

Background:

  • Last week, the German government confirmed that it gave Ukraine a permission to use German-supplied weapons to strike military targets in Russia.
  • German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius characterised Berlin's decision to enable Ukraine to employ German weaponry against Russian military facilities as a "strategic adaptation to a changing situation".
  • German Chancellor Olaf Scholz emphasised that allowing Ukraine to use the weapons provided by Germany to strike targets in Russia would not lead to escalation and was necessary for self-defence.
  • German Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck has said he regrets that the government led by Olaf Scholz did not allow Ukraine to deploy Western-supplied weapons to strike military targets in Russia sooner.

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