Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the special fund agreed between his government coalition and the opposition is “necessary for a strong Bundeswehr”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz
After weeks of tough negotiations, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his “traffic light coalition”, in which he governs with Liberals and Greens, has reached an agreement with the conservative opposition for the creation of a special fund of 100,000 million euros (about 107 billion dollars) that will serve to rearm the armed forces, known as the Bundeswehr. This agreement was necessary because it will require a modification of the German Basic Law and the consensus is part of the new international security situation that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has created.
The The agreement was confirmed at dawn by representatives of the parties, after more than three hours of negotiation in Berlin and after several weeks of legal disputes. This item will be followed by an annual budget allocation of more than 2% of GDP and constitutes the first major rearmament operation since World War II.
A German officer takes a position during training at a NATO base in Germany (REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer)
A Panzerhaubitze 2000 in full NATO exercises in Munster on May 10, 2022 (REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer)
To create this special fund, which aims to strengthen its own defensive capacity and within the Atlantic Alliance, the Basic Law will be modified and a law will be introduced on the financing of the Bundeswehr and for the creation of this special fund, according to a ministry statement picked up by the media.
To anchor this fund in the Basic Law, for which the debt brake will not apply, a two-thirds majority is needed in the Bundestag (lower house) and Bundesrag (upper house), so the government coalition, made up of social democrats, greens and liberals, it needs the support of the conservative bloc.
Military vehicles arrive at the port of Bremerhaven, Germany (REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer)
“Together we will ensure that the Bundeswehr will be strengthened in the coming years with 100,000 million euros in additional investments”, the statement states. In this way, he adds, “the objective of 2% of NATO will be reached in an average of several years”. Once this extraordinary allocation has been exhausted, the necessary funds will continue to be made available to achieve the NATO capacity objectives in force at that time.
The 100,000 million will go entirely to the Bundeswehr, as the conservative bloc had demanded, so that other aspects, such as the improvement of cyber defense, which the greens sought to be financed with this special fund , they will come out of the regular budget.
Soldiers shoot during NATO exercises in Germany (REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer)
Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, mentioned that “with 100,000 million we guarantee that the Bundeswehr can fulfill its defense mission better than ever before. A huge step for the security of Germany and Europe: our response to the new era”, Scholz said on Twitter.