On February 2nd, 2023, one of the hosts of the “Comment of the Day” program of the pro-Kremlin “Alt-Info,” claimed that according to a survey conducted in Germany, 94% of respondents were against the transfer of tanks to Ukraine; however, due to pressure, Scholz was forced to take this step.
Tengo Omanidze, Host at Alt-Info: “According to their own survey, 94 per cent of the German population was against the transfer of tanks, and [Olaf Scholz] was forced to take this step, that is, he could withstand the force that was opposing him.”
The claim that 94% of the German population opposes the transfer of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine is disinformation. According to polls conducted in January, the number of supporters slightly exceeded those against (46% and 43%). The number of people in favour of the transfer exceeds the number of opponents even after the decision to transfer “Leopards” to Ukraine (52% agree, 39% consider it a mistake). As for the parties, the largest share of opponents of the transfer of tanks was recorded among supporters of the far-right party “Alternative for Germany” (84%).
According to a report of DeutschlandTrend, a regular public opinion survey by German television ARD, published on January 19th, 46% of respondents were in favour of sending battle tanks to Ukraine, compared to 43% who were against it. The remaining 11% refrained from answering.
Supporters of different political parties have different opinions on the transfer of German Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. The largest number of supporters – 66% – are among the supporters of the “Christian-Democratic Union” (CDU) and 61% – among the supporters of the “Greens”. The same opinion is shared by 49% of supporters of the “Social Democratic Party” (SPD).
The largest share of opponents of the transfer of tanks to Ukraine are among the supporters of the far-right party “Alternative for Germany” (AfD). According to 84% of party supporters, Germany should not have transferred battle tanks to Ukraine.
Notably, the false assertion voiced by the host of “Alt-Info”, as if 94% of the German population was against the transfer of tanks to Ukraine, somewhat reflects the position of “Alternative for Germany” supporters. However, AfD had 10.3% support in the 2021 German parliamentary elections, and four parties received considerably more votes. Therefore, the generalization of the position of “Alternative for Germany” supporters to the population of Germany is irrelevant.
According to the results of a survey commissioned by the news agency DPA, relatively earlier, by the end of December, 45% of respondents were against the transfer of “Leopards” to Ukraine, 33% were in favour, and 22% were undecided.
According to the polls conducted after the decision to transfer “Leopards” to Ukraine, the number of people exceeds in favour of the decision exceeds the number of opponents. According to the results of a survey conducted by the company Civey for Der Spiegel, 54% fully or mostly agree with the transfer of tanks to Ukraine.
DeutschlandTrend’s February 2nd report shows a similar trend. More than half of the respondents, 52%, agree with the decision to transfer tanks to Ukraine, while 39% consider it a mistake.
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