Germany approves trillion-euro defense boost amid Trump-NATO concerns
(R-L) Friedrich Merz, leader of Germany's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, CDU parliamentary managing director Thorsten Frei and the parliamentary group leader of the Bavarian conservative Christian Social Union (CSU) party Alexander Dobrindt raise their hands during a vote during a session at the Bundestag (lower house of parliament) in Berlin, Germany on March 18, 2025.
The German parliament approved an unprecedented fiscal package Tuesday that could funnel more than one trillion euros into defense and infrastructure over the next decade, signaling a dramatic shift in policy for Europe’s largest economy.
The measure, which passed by a vote of 513 to 207, comes as chancellor-designate Friedrich Merz prepares to take office following his CDU/CSU alliance’s victory in recent elections. The package still requires approval from Germany’s upper house on Friday.
Dubbed a “cash bazooka” by German media, the plan exempts defense spending above one percent of GDP from Germany’s traditionally strict debt rules and establishes a 500-billion-euro ($545 billion) fund for infrastructure investments over 12 years.
“This is the first major step towards a new European defense community,” Merz told lawmakers, pointing to Russia’s “war of aggression against Europe” as justification for the historic spending increase.
The vote represents a significant departure for Germany, which has historically been reluctant to take on large state debt or invest heavily in its armed forces due to its World War II past.
Transatlantic tensions drive new defense strategy
European anxiety over the transatlantic alliance has intensified following U.S. President Donald Trump’s return to office and his signals of uncertain commitment to NATO. Germany’s outgoing Defense Minister Boris Pistorius argued the spending boost would strengthen the alliance by “placing it on two legs, namely North America and Europe.”
The package was negotiated between Merz’s center-right alliance and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) of outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz, with support from the Greens, who secured 100 billion euros for climate protection measures.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte praised the move, writing on X that it “sends a powerful message of leadership and commitment to our shared security.” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called it “excellent news” that demonstrates “Germany is determined to invest massively in defense.”
The measure faced opposition from both the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the far-left Die Linke. AfD’s Bernd Baumann accused Merz of ignoring voters’ will by pushing the vote through the outgoing parliament, charging that he “wants to buy himself the chancellorship from the SPD and the Greens, like in a banana republic.”
In the short term, Berlin appears poised to approve an additional three billion euros in military aid for Ukraine.
