Germany Passes Historic Defense Bill

The German parliament has approved a historic bill that will allow investing up to €1 trillion in the country’s army and infrastructure.

This was reported by the Financial Times.

On Tuesday, March 18, the Bundestag voted overwhelmingly in favor of a bill amending the Constitution to allow budgetary funds to be spent in excess of the debt limit for defense spending and the needs of the federal states.

In this way, the government circumvented the constitutionally mandated “debt brake,” a mechanism that required the government to prudent budgetspending by limiting expedintures. 

The ultimate goal of the voted billis to dramatically increase defense spending. Economists estimate that the country’s armed forces will need more than €400 billion in the coming years.

Before the vote, Germany’s future Chancellor Friedrich Merz told the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, that Germany had failed to recognize the fragility of European security in recent years and that it must act now.

“For at least a decade we have had a false sense of security,” Merz said, adding that nothing short of a complete rebuilding of Germany’s defense capabilities is needed. “The decision we are making today to bolster our defense capabilities… can be nothing less than the first big step towards a new European defense community that also includes countries that are not members of the European Union,” he said.

The Conservative leader noted that Russia is currently waging a war against the whole of Europe, not just Ukraine.

“It is also a war against our country, which is happening every day, with attacks on our data networks, with the destruction of supply lines, with arson, with contract killings in the heart of our country,” Merz said. “We will defend against these attacks with everything at our disposal for years and decades to come.”

It was recently reported that Germany’s new political leaders are discussing a €200 billion increase in defense spending.

These resources are needed to strengthen the country’s armed forces against the backdrop of existing and potential threats in Europe. Also, given that the current US administration may withdraw its forces from the continent.

This month, Germany began the deployment of its first territorial defense division (Heimatschutzdivision), which will consist of 6,000 troops.