Survey: Germans divided on maintaining good relations with Russia

German citizens are divided on the question of whether to maintain good relations with Russia, according to a survey conduced by opinion research centre YouGov on behalf of dpa.

A total of 37% of respondents said the German government should maintain good relations with the country, while half of respondents disagreed with this.

Among eligible voters in the former East German states, the number of people in favour of maintaining good relations with Russia was much higher - at 51% - than among voters in former West Germany - at 32%.

The fact that more people in the east advocate this cautious way of dealing with Russia cannot, however, necessarily be interpreted as approval of Russian President Vladimir Putin's politics and the war he launched against Ukraine in February 2022.

In the eastern states, 51% see Russia as a threat to Germany. At a national level, 63% of respondents see Russia as a threat, while 30% do not.

Until German reunification in 1990, communist East Germany was nominally independent but widely seen as a satellite state, heavily influenced by the Soviet Union. East Germany was economically, politically and culturally dependent on its "big brother" for decades.

Between July 14 and 19, YouGov surveyed 2,317 eligible voters aged 18 and over across Germany. The results of the survey are representative of adult Germans as a whole; for people in the East and West they only reflect a tendency.