A new opinion poll has revealed, among other things, that a substantial majority of German citizens think that Ukrainians should immediately begin negotiations with Russia to finally bring an end to the war, which has just entered its eleventh month, and which has claimed the lives of tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands.
The survey, carried out by UK market research and data analytics firm YouGov on behalf of Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA), has shown that 55% of German are in favor of Ukraine beginning peace talks with Russia now, with just 27% saying it is not the appropriate time for peace talks, the radio broadcaster Deutschlandfunk reports.
Although the wish for peace talks prevails among voters of every political party represented in the Bundestag, Germany’s lawmaking body, the connection with a voter’s preferred party is certainly worth noting.
For example, the desire for negotiations between Ukraine and Russia to begin now was by far the highest in those who support Germany’s sole conservative, anti-globalist party, Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), at 80%. Meanwhile, the wish for peace talks among supporters of the parties in the ruling traffic light coalition government was considerably lower, although still relatively high. Among supporters of the Olaf Scholz’s left-liberal SPD and the pro-business, liberal FDP, 52% and 53%, respectively, expressed the wish to see negotiations right away, while 46% of left-liberal Green party voters felt the same way.
The survey also revealed that 50% take the view that Ukraine should include its entire national territory before 2014 at the end of the war. At the same time, 29% of those surveyed think Crimea should remain a part of the Russian Federation, as it is de facto at the present moment. Only 9% are of the opinion that, in addition to Crimea, the eastern oblasts, or administrative regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia ought to remain under Russian control when the war has reached its conclusion.
A large majority of the German respondents, however, are not convinced that peace will be reached in the relatively near future. While 57% believe the armed conflict will last at least until the end of 2023, only 27% expect it to conclude later in the coming year. Another 19% did not provide any information.
The YouGov opinion poll surveyed a total of 2,075 people, representative of the German population aged 18 and over, between December 16th and the 21st of this year.
