German legislators voted to allow a huge increase in defense and infrastructure spending – a seismic change for the country that could reshape European defense.
A majority of two thirds of the Bundestag parliamentarians, required for the change, approved the vote on Tuesday.
The law exempts defense and security expenses from the strict debt rules in Germany and will create an infrastructure fund of € 500 billion ($ 547 billion; £ 420 billion pounds Sterling).
This vote is a historic decision for traditionally ardent Germany, and could be extremely significant for Europe, because the large -scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia, and after the American president Donald Trump reported an uncertain commitment to NATO and the defense of Europe.
However, representatives of the state government in the upper chamber, the Bundesrat, must still approve the movements – also by a majority of two thirds – before officially becoming the law. This vote is scheduled for Friday.
Friedrich Merz, the man behind these plans and who should soon be confirmed as a new German Chancellor, told the lower chamber during Tuesday’s debate that the country had “felt a false feeling of security” in the last decade.
“The decision we take today … can not be less than the first major step towards a new European Defense Community,” he said, adding that it includes countries that are not members of the European Union. “
Despite the fears that the vote is tight, the legislators finally voted in favor of the changes from 513 to 207 – comfortably during two thirds of the required majority.
Under the measure, defense expenses will be exempt from the so -called brake of German debt – a law of the constitution of the country which strictly limits the borrowing of the federal government only 0.35% of the GDP of Germany.
Merz, whose CDU party won the general elections of Germany last month, proposed the measures quickly after the victory.
On Sunday, in an interview, he specifically mentioned the fears that the United States could withdraw from the defense of Europe and Trump with Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying that “the situation has worsened in recent weeks”.
“This is why we must act quickly,” Merz told the public broadcaster Ard.
This is an important political victory for Merz, which, when he takes power as a chancellor, will now have access to hundreds of billions of euros to invest in the state – which some in Germany have called a “tax bazooka”.
It is also an important moment for Ukraine.
Defense plans approved today by the Bundestag also allow expenses of assistance to states “attacked in violation of international law” to be exempt from the debt braking.
This will allow the outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz to release 3 billion euros in help from Ukraine next week.
Merz chose to push the changes through the old parliament, knowing that the arithmetic of votes was more favorable now than after March 25, when the new session of the Parliament begins.
Far -right AFD and the far left law, which both performed well in the February elections, oppose Merz plans.
Merz has still not concluded a coalition agreement to govern Germany after its victory in the elections and announced ambitious plans to have a government in place at Easter.
Coalition negotiations in Germany can however score for months at a time.
