According to a survey, a clear majority of German citizens are in favour of Germany and its European NATO allies significantly increasing their defence spending in the changed security situation.
In a survey conducted by the opinion research institute Forsa on behalf of the magazine Internationale Politik, 68% were in favour of this. 29% were against it. The survey was made available to the German Press Agency on Monday.
According to the survey, a majority of all population and voter groups surveyed believe that Germany and NATO members in Europe should significantly increase defence spending in the future, although approval was higher in western Germany and among men overall.
The clearest support for an increase was found among supporters of the conservative Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) at 90%, and the lowest among those of the far-right AfD at only 61%.
Among Social Democratic Party (SPD) supporters, 72% were in favour, among the Greens 75% and among the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP), 88%.
