BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s lower house of parliament approved on Friday the creation of a special 100 billion euro defense budget announced by Chancellor Olaf Scholz following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, an envelope intended for half to rebuild the German army in the coming years.
Berlin has decided to amend the German Constitution so that this special budget is not affected by the “brake” on public debt imposing budgetary restrictions.
This required, as is the case, that the government obtain the support of the elected members of the conservative opposition and the ruling coalition in order to have the two-thirds of the votes in Parliament necessary to modify the Constitution.
With this special budget, Germany should be able to allocate 2% of its gross domestic product (GDP) each year to the defense sector, its objective within the framework of NATO. It will become the third largest military power in the world in terms of investments, behind the United States and China.
Russia has warned that Germany’s “remilitarization” is fueling security risks.
The Bundestag also approved a budget anticipating a new debt of 139 billion euros this year, the second largest amount in the country’s history, to offset the economic impact of the war in Ukraine.
(Holger Hansen report; French version Jean Terzian, edited by Sophie Louet)
click here for restrictions
©2022 Reuters
