Nearly 2/3rds of Germans back European nuclear shield

An unarmed Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile launches during an operational test at 12:01 Pacific Time, May 21, 2025, at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California | Photo: Tech. Sgt. Elora J. McCutcheon/U.S. Air Force/341st Missile Wing

By Jörg Blank, dpa

Berlin: Nearly two-thirds of Germans support the creation of an independent European nuclear deterrent, separate from the United States, according to a new survey.
 
The poll, conducted by the Forsa polling institute for the magazine Internationale Politik (International Politics), found that 64 percent of respondents were in favour of establishing a European nuclear shield as a deterrent, while only 29 percent were opposed.

The survey was conducted on June 12 and 13, before the latest escalation in the conflict between Israel and Iran, which included direct U.S. military involvement on Israel’s side.

 Even before taking office in May, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced plans to seek talks with the United Kingdom and France – Europe’s two nuclear powers – to explore a shared European nuclear strategy. The idea is to reduce Europe’s dependence on the U.S. nuclear umbrella, particularly in light of the unpredictability of U.S. President Donald Trump.

 Support for a European nuclear deterrent spans all demographic and voter groups, according to the survey – an uncommon level of consensus on foreign policy issues in Germany.

In western Germany, 66 percent of respondents backed the idea, compared to 52 percent in the east. Among respondents under 45, support stood at 58.5 percent, rising to 67.5 percent among those over 45.

According to the poll, 78 percent of Green Party voters backed a European nuclear umbrella, followed by 71 percent of supporters of Chancellor Merz’s conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU). Among voters for the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), junior partner in the government, 65 percent expressed support.

A majority also supported the idea among voters of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) at 54 percent and among supporters of the Left Party at 52 percent.

The representative survey was based on responses from 1,005 participants and has a statistical margin of error of three percentage points.