Most Germans, French see ‘high risk’ of war with Russia, survey shows

According to a survey, the majority of people in Germany, France, the Netherlands, and several other EU member states believe that there is a high likelihood that Russia will start a war against their nation.

Just over half of respondents in nine of the nine surveyed European nations reported that the risk of war was “high” or “very high” in their surveys, according to a poll conducted by Cluster17 in France on Thursday.

Poland, which was once a part of the Soviet Union and borders Russia, had by far the highest level of war anxiety, with 77 percent of respondents citing a high risk of conflict, according to the survey.

Respondents in Belgium and the Netherlands reported that 59% of respondents saw a high risk of war, with roughly 50% of Germans, French, and Spanish respondents all agreeing.

34 percent of respondents, followed by Portuguese and Croatians, had the lowest risk of war.

Just under half of Europeans surveyed said they viewed Donald Trump as an “enemy of Europe,” up four points from September.

Le Grand Continent, a French-based journal for foreign affairs, published the poll.

Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Europe’s leaders have been preoccupious about the security situation there.

Following similar actions by Belgium and the Netherlands, France announced last week that it would reintroduce military service, which was discontinued in 1996, starting from January 1 on a voluntary basis.

Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, blatantly cited the action as a response to Russian aggression, warning that Moscow would try to take advantage of any “signal of weakness.”

Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, retaliated on Tuesday over proposed changes to a Trump-backed plan to end the Ukrainian war by saying that Russia was “ready” for war.