70% of Germans don’t believe army can protect the country – YouGov poll
The majority of Germans do not believe their armed forces are capable of protecting the country, a recent YouGov survey has found.
According to the International Flagship Survey published on Friday, 70% of respondents in Germany said they are not confident their armed forces are strong enough to fend off an attack. YouGov surveyed 2,079 adults across Germany from June 17 to July 1.
Although 40% of respondents say Germany spends too little on defense, 77% oppose higher taxes to fund defense spending, while 62% reject cuts to public services and 59% oppose increased government borrowing.
Germany recorded the lowest level of confidence among the seven countries included in the poll. Around 57% of respondents in Poland, 53% in both Britain and Australia, and 48% in Canada also doubted their armed forces’ ability to protect the country. By comparison, 52% of French respondents and 77% of Americans expressed confidence in their militaries.
The poll comes as US President Donald Trump has renewed threats to withdraw from NATO after members states refused to join the US-Israeli military operation against Iran. Trump has often accused European NATO members of not spending enough on defense and described the bloc as “a paper tiger.”
Germany has adopted a plan to increase defense spending, expand active-duty military from around 183,000 personnel to 260,000, and grow the reserve force to 200,000, citing the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The government reintroduced a military registration and monitoring system in January, sparking debate and protests. Deutsche Welle also reported a sharp rise in the number of young people opting out of military service as conscientious objectors.
The German economy is reeling from the cost-of-living crisis and high energy prices, exacerbated by the phaseout of Russian energy and the ongoing war in the Middle East.
Moscow has condemned what it calls the “militarization” of Germany and other European countries. President Vladimir Putin has said Russia will not attack a NATO member unless it is attacked first.
