Admin l Saturday, March 04, 2023
BERLIN – A poll says 62% of Germans are in favour of investing more money in the armed forces, beyond the €100 billion ($106 billion) special fund, even if that means the government would have to go into debt or make savings in other areas to do so.
The poll suggests there is majority support for extra spending among almost all party supporters, with only supporters of the Left Party overwhelmingly against additional spending.
Just under a third of respondents, or 32%, were against further spending on the Bundeswehr, while 6% were undecided.
Defence Minister Boris Pistorius recently called for the defence budget to be increased even beyond the special fund.
Pistorius asked for the further funds to enable Germany to reach the 2% spending target agreed among NATO members.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz also emphasized that he wanted to spend 2% of Germany’s gross domestic product on armament in accordance with the NATO target.
For the current year spending of just 1.6% is expected, according to government calculations.
The German government adopted its special €100 billion-fund last year to better equip the Bundeswehr in the days after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine a year ago, upending European security architecture.
Some 1,165 eligible voters were polled in the ZDF Politbarometer survey, carried out between February 28 and March 2 and published on Friday.
