German Lawmakers Approve Scholz’s Military Spending Splurge
- Government allocating additional 100 billion euros to defense
- Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prompted radical policy rethink
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German lawmakers paved the way for the creation of a special fund worth 100 billion euros ($107 billion) for additional military spending, part of a push by the government to transform the armed forces after years of underfunding.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s ruling coalition needed the backing of the main opposition conservatives for the two-thirds majority needed to enshrine the fund in the country’s constitution. In a vote Friday in the Bundestag, or lower house of parliament, 567 lawmakers voted in favor of the constitutional change, with 96 against and 20 abstentions.