Most Germans Don't Mind Some American Troops Withdrawal

Many German politicians criticize Washington's decision to cut by one third the American military contingent in the FRG. However, ordinary citizens think differently. The planned by US withdrawal from Germany of almost 12 thousand troops which is a third of the total number of the American military contingent stationed in Germany caused an ambiguous reaction in the country. Politicians from both the ruling coalition and the opposition are in the majority opposed to this decision of Donald Trump. At the same time, a significant part of the population does not object to the redeployment of the military to other countries. This is evidenced by published on Tuesday, August 4, the data of a survey conducted by the sociological institute YouGov commissioned by the news agency dpa. According to the poll, 47 percent of Germans see nothing wrong with the American contingent reduction. Moreover, every fourth respondent believes that the United States should completely withdraw its troops from Germany. Less than a third of those polled believe that the Americans should keep their contingent in Germany at their current level (28 percent) or even increase it (4 percent). 21 percent of respondents have no position on this issue. For the preservation of the full contingent of American troops in Germany, the majority are only supporters of the Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union (45 and percent against are 41). The most actively opposed to this are the respondents who support the Left Party (70 against 18 percent). Germans oppose nuclear weapons in the country The respondents spoke even more clearly about the American nuclear weapons presence on the FRG territory. 66 percent of respondents were in favor of Washington removing the atomic bombs allegedly located at the Büchel Air Force Base in the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Officially, the existence of nuclear weapons in Germany is not commented on by either the US authorities or the German government. 19 percent of the respondents believe that nuclear weapons should be retained, another 16 did not speak on this issue. When asked which of the three countries good relations with should be the most important with for Germany, 35 percent of the survey participants named the United States, 25 percent - Russia, and another 13 - China.