German parliament approves 100bn-euro military boost
The German parliament voted on Friday for a constitutional amendment to create a 100-billion-euro fund that will beef up its military defences in the face of an emboldened Russia. Deputies to the Bundestag lower house approved the measure by 567 votes to 96 with 20 abstentions after the centre-left-led government and conservative opposition reached a deal on Sunday. The watershed move answers years of criticism from close allies that Berlin was failing to achieve Nato's target of spending two percent of GDP on defence. The Bundesrat upper house must still approve the measure. "This is the moment in which Germany says we are there when Europe needs us," Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock of the Green party told MPs. Three days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, Chancellor Olaf Scholz pledged a special budget of 100 billion euros to rearm the German military and modernise its outdated equipment over the next few years. But critics have since accused Scholz of timidity in his support for Kyiv and failing to take enough concrete action in terms of arms deliveries. The agreement will allow Berlin to achieve Nato's target of spending 2.0 percent of GDP on defence "on average over several years". Russia blasted the move on Friday, accusing Germany of "remilitarising" and using language that summoned up its Nazi past. "We take that as another confirmation that Berlin is on the path to a new re-militarisation," said Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. "We know only too well how that can end." The bulk of the German investment – 40.9 billion euros – will go toward the air force, with the acquisition of 35 US-made F-35 fighter jets, 15 Eurofighter jets and 60 Chinook transport helicopters. Nearly 20 billion euros will be earmarked for the navy, mainly for new corvettes, frigates and a 212-model submarine. More than 16 billion euros will bolster the army's holdings with Marder transport tanks and Fuchs armoured troop carriers. "Germany will soon have the largest conventional army in Europe within Nato," Scholz told media. (AFP)