Germany voted for a historical impulse of defense and infrastructure costs

German legislators voted to allow a huge increase in defense and infrastructure costs – a seismic change for the country that can change European defense.

Two -thirds of the majority of the Bundestag parliamentarians needed for the change approved the vote on Tuesday.

The law will release the costs of defense and security from the strict rules for the debt of Germany and create an infrastructure fund of $ 500 billion ($ 547 billion;

This vote is a historical move for the traditionally shy of long Germany and can be extremely significant to Europe, as the full -scale invasion of Russia in Ukraine has grinded after US President Donald Trump has signaled an uncertain commitment to NATO and Europe’s defense.

Representatives of the State Government in the upper house, Bundesrat, still have to approve of moves – also by a majority of two -thirds – before they formally become a law. This vote is set for Friday.

Friedrich Mertz, the man behind these plans and is expected to be confirmed soon as a new chancellor of Germany, told the lower house during the debate on Tuesday that the country “had a false sense of security” in the last decade.

“The decision we make today … It can be nothing smaller than the first major step towards a new European defense community,” he said, adding that it includes countries that are not “members of the European Union”.

According to the measure, defense costs will be released from the so -called German brake – a law in the Constitution of the country, which strictly restricts the federal government, occupying only up to 0.35% of Germany’s GDP.

Mertz, whose CDU party won the general elections in Germany last month, offered the measures quickly after the victory.

In an interview on Sunday, he specifically mentioned the fears that the United States could withdraw from the defense of Europe and Trump’s conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying that “the situation has deteriorated in recent weeks.”

“That’s why we have to act quickly,” Mertz told the public television operator ARD.

He chose to push the changes through the old parliament, knowing that the arithmetic of the vote was more favorable now than after March 25, when the new parliament session began.

Kraido Right AFD and the final left lynke, which they both performed well in the February election, opposed Merz’s plans.

Mertz has not yet agreed with a German management deal after his victory in the election and announced ambitious plans to have a government from Easter.

However, negotiations for a coalition in Germany can be dragged for months at a time.