A recent poll indicates that more Germans are opposed to a planned US missile deployment in their country than support it. The United States plans to deploy missile systems that were previously prohibited by the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty starting in 2026, which banned land-based missile systems with a range between 310 and 3,400 miles.
The Forsa Institute poll found that 49% of Germans believe the new missile deployment is “not right,” while 45% support the idea. Opposition to the plan is stronger among Germans living in states that were once part of East Germany, with 74% of them against the deployment.
The US announced the deployment jointly with Germany, but German Chancellor Olaf Scholz faces opposition from within his own party and coalition government. Rolf Mützenich, the parliamentary leader of Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SDP), told Politico that “not every weapon makes Germany immediately safer,” and warned that the “danger of an unintentional military escalation is considerable.
Senior members of the SDP who are concerned about the deployment said they would call for a debate on the issue in September. The party members expressed their concern, stating that “the current debate surrounding the announced stationing of long-range conventional weapons systems in Germany concerns us all.
The US plans to deploy Tomahawk missiles, which are nuclear-capable and have a range of over 1,000 miles. Typically used on US Navy destroyers and submarines since a land-based version was banned by the INF, these missiles can be fired from the Typhon missile system. This is a covert system concealed in a 40-foot shipping container that can fire Tomahawks and SM-6 missiles. The SM-6 has a range of up to 290 miles, which is below the levels previously banned by the INF.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed that Russia will respond to the deployment by ending its moratorium on deploying missiles previously banned by the INF. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov did not rule out the idea of Moscow deploying nuclear-armed missiles in response.
