Majority of Germans Oppose Ukraine's Accession to NATO, Poll Shows

BERLIN (Sputnik) - Up to 53% of German citizens are opposed to Ukraine's accession to NATO, while less than a third or 28% are of the contrary opinion, according to a survey by the German ARD TV broadcaster.

According to the poll, 31% of respondents spoke out against Ukraine's entry into the alliance in the coming years, another 22% completely excluded the admission of the country to NATO. Less than a third, or 28% of Germans expressed a strong belief that Kiev should not be denied membership in the alliance. Another 19% of the respondents were undecided.

The poll was conducted from February 15-16 both by phone and in an online format, with 1,202 Germans participating. The statistical margin of error was 2-3 percentage points.

In the European security proposals which Russia made to NATO and the United States in December, 2021, Moscow specifically asked for guarantees that NATO would not expand eastward to include Ukraine and Georgia. However, Washington vows to continue supporting NATO's open door policy.

Ukraine and several Western countries have been accusing Russia of military build-up along the Ukrainian border in an alleged preparation of invasion. Russia has rejected those accusations and warned its Western counterparts supplying lethal weaponry to Kiev that the latter could use it against the breakaway parts of the Donbas region.