A recent survey commissioned by Stern and RTL indicates that a slight majority of Germans are actually in favor of the German armed forces participating in a military mission in the Strait of Hormuz. The poll found that 51 percent of respondents support the mission, compared to 44 percent who oppose it, with five percent stating they were undecided.
Discussions about Germany’s involvement in securing the Strait of Hormuz have been ongoing within the federal government, and Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) has repeatedly expressed willingness to participate. For such a involvement to take place, several prerequisites must be met: an end to hostilities between the United States and Iran, the development of a viable military concept-possibly through a UN resolution-and the explicit approval of the Bundestag (German parliament). The level of support for these requirements was reported to be similar to the rates measured in mid-April, at which time half of the general public already supported deploying German minesweeping vessels in the Middle East.
In early May, the German Navy dispatched the minesweeper ship “Fulda” into the Mediterranean. Should a decision be made for deployment, the approximately 45 soldiers aboard, including mine divers, would be equipped to search for and neutralize explosives underwater in the Strait of Hormuz.
However, the opinion is not unified across Germany. Support differs significantly between East and West: while West Germans predominantly favor the mission (52 percent), East Germans largely reject it (53 percent). Political support is strongest among the CDU/CSU and the Green Party, with Greens showing the highest level of backing; 77 percent of their supporters favor participation. Conversely, nearly three quarters of AfD supporters (73 percent) are against joining the mission. Skepticism is also noticeable among members of the Left Party, where 48 percent answered “No” and 39 percent answered “Yes”.
The specific question asked in the survey was: “Are you in favor of sending German minesweeping vessels to the Strait of Hormuz?” The polling institute Forsa collected this data from a total of 1,009 German citizens on May 7th and 8th, 2026.