Emnid Survey: The majority see right-wing extremism as an Eastern problem

Stand: 05:54 clock | Reading time: 2 minutes

eA clear majority of citizens believe that East Germany has a bigger problem with right-wing extremism than the West. In an Emnid survey for the "Bild am Sonntag" 66 percent of the respondents indicated this, only 21 percent saw it differently. Even in East Germany, 57 percent took this view, while 39 percent said that the problem is greater in the east than in the west.

For 66 percent of Germans, according to the survey, the country has changed since the beginning of the refugee crisis in 2015 to the negative. Only one in three feels less safe than three years ago. Only 17 percent said that Germany had developed into the good.

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Four out of five citizens (82 percent) see the social climate as significantly worse compared to previous years, 11 percent denies this, but their own security no longer sees the majority threatened: 61 percent of citizens feel just as secure in 2018 as in 2015, only 36 percent more uncertain.

Two-thirds has no sympathy for protests against foreigners

According to the survey, 27 percent of citizens think it's okay to protest against foreigners, while 66 percent do not understand. However, for protests against violent acts by foreigners 71 percent of the interviewees were understanding, only 21 percent thought such protests were wrong.

Many Germans clearly see immigration as a threat: according to the poll, 50 percent believe that too many migrants come to Germany; 35 percent see the number as relative, four percent as too low. For the Emnid study, 500 representative citizens were interviewed on Thursday.