BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - According to a survey, a clear majority of German citizens are in favor of Germany and its European NATO allies significantly increasing their defense spending in the changed security situation. In a survey conducted by the opinion research institute Forsa on behalf of the magazine "Internationale Politik", 68 percent were in favor of this. The figure was 29 percent against. The survey was made available to the German Press Agency on Monday.

A majority of all population and voter groups surveyed believe that Germany and the NATO members in Europe should significantly increase defense spending in the future, although approval was higher in western Germany and among men overall. The clearest support for an increase was found among supporters of the CDU/CSU (90 percent) and the lowest among those of the AfD (61 percent). Among SPD supporters, 72% are in favor, among the Greens 75% and among the FDP 88%./cn/DP/zb