More than in a European comparison: 40 percent of Germans want a quick end to the war

In Germany, more citizens are in favor of a quick end to the Ukraine war than in Europe. This is the result of an international study by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) think tank.

Between the end of December and the beginning of January, adults were interviewed in ten European countries such as Germany, Denmark and France, as well as in Turkey, China, India, Russia and the USA. According to the results, an average of 30 percent of respondents in the nine EU countries Denmark, Germany, Estonia, France, Great Britain, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Spain are of the opinion that the war must be ended quickly.

Even if that meant Ukraine had to cede territory to Russia. However, Germany is an exception: 39 percent of those questioned are in favor of ending the war as quickly as possible.

On average, 38 percent of respondents in the participating EU countries are of the opinion that Ukraine must get back its entire national territory and that they also want to “put up with a longer war” to do so. In Germany it is only 33 percent.

Almost two-thirds see Russia as an “enemy”

In Germany, 61 percent of respondents regard Russia as an “enemy” and 8 percent as a “rival” – more than in the US. There it is only 55 percent who see Russia as an “enemy”. The ECFR also notes that “many citizens in the West have an extremely negative perception of Russia and generally see it as ‘aggressive’ and ‘untrustworthy'”.

The study shows that most Europeans and Americans live in a pre-Cold War world.

Ivan Krastev, political scientist and study co-author

In Russia, again, nearly two-thirds (64%) of respondents would see the United States as an “opponent.” The survey data from Europe, Turkey and the USA are representative.

Due to the repression and restrictions on freedom of expression in China, India and Russia, the study states, the data from the three countries “should only be considered representative of the population covered by the survey and not of the entire national population”. Almost a third of Germans agree that the world will become a bipolar world with two blocs, each led by the US or China. However, only six percent of Germans expect the USA to dominate China.

Ivan Krastev, a renowned Bulgarian political scientist, co-authored the study. “The study shows that most Europeans and Americans live in a pre-Cold War world shaped by the confrontation of democracy and authoritarianism,” Krastev tells the European Council on Foreign Relations. according to with.

“The paradox of the war in Ukraine is that the West is both more united and less influential in the world than ever before,” comments co-author and ECFR Director Mark Leonard.

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Source: Tagesspiegel

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