More than Half of Germans Support Scholz's Decision Not to Give Taurus Missiles to Ukraine

The majority of Germans support Chancellor Olaf Scholz's decision not to supply Taurus long-range missiles to Ukraine for the time being.

The results of a survey conducted by the YouGov institute on behalf of DPA show that 55% of respondents agree with Scholz's position, while 26% consider it wrong.

At the beginning of October, Scholz said that Germany had not yet decided on supplying long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine, as it is trying to prevent the "escalation" of the war.

Scholz's position is criticised by the opposition Christian Democratic Union of Germany, but also by individual representatives of his coalition partners – the Greens and the Free Democrats.

However, support for Scholz's position that the missiles should not be delivered prevails among the voters of all these parties. Among respondents who are supporters of the Free Democrats, 57% share this opinion, 53% of Christian Democratic Union supporters and 40% of the Greens (and 34% share the opposite opinion). Among the voters of Scholz's Social Democratic Party of Germany, 59% of those polled support his position, 79% of voters of the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany, and 49% of Left voters.

In general, opinions regarding German military aid to Ukraine are divided: 39% believe that Germany has "gone too far", 29% that the aid level is as it should be, and 18% believe that it is insufficient.

At the last meeting of the Ramstein format, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin named Germany as one of the largest donors to Ukraine; its contribution is greater than that of the United States, given the size of its economy.

At the end of last week, Berlin reported on another batch of aid given to Ukraine, which includes all-terrain vehicles, satellite communication and first-aid kits.

Before that, the German Ministry of Defence announced a "winter package" of military aid to Kyiv worth about €1 billion. The new German aid package primarily includes air defence systems, including the previously reported additional Patriot and IRIS-T systems.