Majority of Germans do not consider their country capable of defending itself: Survey

BERLIN (AA) - One year after the Russian attack on Ukraine, the fear of war among Germans is rising significantly.

The vast majority also fear that Germany is not capable of defending itself and will become a party to the war itself, a special survey by German insurance company R&V revealed Wednesday.

According to the survey, 63% of Germans fear that Germany will not be able to defend itself in the event of war. "The poor state of the Bundeswehr is clearly reflected in the results of our special survey," study director Grischa Brower-Rabinowitsch said in a press release from the insurance company.

Fears that Germany cannot defend itself "have skyrocketed by 23% since last summer," Brower-Rabinowitsch said. "We rarely see such a large increase in our survey," the study director added.

55% fear that Germany will be involved in a war. That's an increase of 13% from 2022. "Clearly, Russia's horrific war of aggression against Ukraine is shaking Germans' sense of security," Brower-Rabinovich said.

He added: "The fear that the Federal Republic itself could become a party to the war has never been greater in this millennium."

Only in 1999, during the Kosovo war, were higher values found within the R&V poll. At that time, 60% of respondents said they were afraid of war.

Differences between western and eastern Germany were seen with regard to the fear of war. While 66% of East Germans fear a war with German involvement, the figure in the West is 53%.

There are also differences between the sexes. A war with German participation is feared by 63% of women and 48% of men. For the representative survey, 1,000 citizens in Germany were questioned online.