Germany Merz promises to do “everything you need” on defense

Friedrich Merz, who is expected to become another German chancellor, announced a political agreement to raise hundreds of billions of euros for additional protection and infrastructure costs.

“Given the threats of our freedom and peace on our continent, the rules of our defense must be” everything you need, “he said.

Merz, whose conservatives won the German election last month, said he and his likely coalition partners from the center will put new proposals to parliament next week.

He spoke about the need for urgency of spending in German in the light of “the latest decisions of the US government”.

The 69 -year -old Merz did not specify, but he was discovered in his criticism with President Donald Trump’s treatment for Ukraine -Lodier Zelensky in the Oval Service.

Earlier this week he said that European leaders should show “we are able to act independently in Europe.”

At a press conference on Tuesday, together with the leaders of the Social Democrats and its Conservative Party in Bavaria, Mertz stated that Germany expects the US to stand for “mutual alliance commitments … But we also know that resources for our national defense should be extended.”

Merz said in English he would do “all he needs” to defend freedom and peace – a reference to Mario Draga’s promise to save the euro in 2012 when he was president of the European Central Bank.

At the heart of its proposals is a special fund of € 500 billion (415 billion pounds) for repairing the creaking infrastructure of Germany, and weakens tight budget rules to ensure investment in defense.

After the financial crisis of Europe, Germany imposed “debt” or Debt, Restriction of budget deficit to 0.35% of national economic products (GDP) at the usual time.

The new defense proposal recommends the “required protection costs” above 1% of GDP to free from debt restrictions without the upper limit.

Despite the fact that Germany provided greater assistance to Ukraine than any other European country, its military is known to be underfunded.

The Government of the Social Democrat Olaf Scholtz created a fund of 100 billion euros after a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but most of this have already been allocated.

Germany will have to find an additional 30 billion euros a year to only reach NATO’s current 2% GDP for defense, and security experts believe that it will need to increase the goals closer to 3%.

On Wednesday, on the eve of the EU summit dedicated to Ukraine and European defense, Scholtz was appointed Friedrich Merz and the heads of the Social Democrats. His government fell apart at the end of last year, because three parties in the coalition could not agree to reform the debt restrictions.

The borrowed brake was recorded in the German Constitution, or the Basic Law, and any changes will require a majority in the parliament by two-thirds, which is not completed in advance due to the large number of places occupying the right AUD and the left party.

However, the new parliament will not be convened by the end of March, and this measure will initially take place to the old parliament.

Boris Pistaria, Minister of Defense of the Social Democrats in the Government, said that the expenses plans were “big, important”, even if they were far from the coalition deal. Ten days after the German election, the parties participate in the intelligence negotiations on Thursday.

Pistaria told German television that removal of protection against the rules of national debt was not about weapons as much as “the security of our country is nothing more”.

Social Democrats leader Lars Kalingbel, who stood next to Merza on Tuesday, gave details of the plan to enter the German infrastructure again, saying: “Our country carries itself.”

500 billion loans will enter the fund to cover roads, railways and other important infrastructure; 100 billion euros would go to 16 federal states of Germany, while looting the debt brake, so that the states also raise a small amount of debt.