Germany’s Merz promises to do ‘whatever it takes’ on defence happymamay

Friedrich Mirz, who is expected to become the upcoming German advisor, has announced a political deal to collect hundreds of billions of euros in additional spending on defense and infrastructure.

He said, “In light of the threats of our freedom and peace on our continent, our defense base must now be” everything that requires it. “

Mirz, whose governors won the German elections last month, said that he and the potential coalition partners from the left will set new proposals for parliament next week.

He talked about the need to urge German spending in light of “recent decisions from the US government.”

Mirz, 69, did not explain, but explicit in his criticism of President Donald Trump’s treatment of Voludimir Zelinski in Ukraine at the Oval Office.

Earlier this week, he said that European leaders should show “we are in a position that allows us to act independently in Europe.”

At a press conference on Tuesday, along with the leaders of socialist Democrats and its conservative brotherly party in Bavaria, Mirz said that Germany was dependent on the United States to stand alongside “mutual alliance obligations … but we also know that the resources for our national defense and the coalition must be expanded now greatly.”

Mirz said, in English, he was doing “everything required” to protect freedom and peace – in reference to Mario Draji’s pledge to save the euro in 2012 when he was president of the European Central Bank.

At the heart of his proposals, there is a special fund of 500 billion euros (415 billion pounds) to reform the infrastructure of Germany, in addition to reducing strict budget budgets to allow investment in defense.

In the wake of the financial crisis in Europe, Germany imposed a “debt brake” or Schuldenbremse, Reducing the budget deficit to 0.35 % of national economic product (gross domestic product) at normal times.

The new defense proposal recommends that “necessary defensive spending” above 1 % of GDP must be exempt from the restrictions of the debt brake, without the upper limit.

Although Germany provided more aid to Ukraine more than any other European country, its army suffers from a lack of financing.

The Democrats -led government created a 100 billion euros -euro government after Russia’s large -scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but most of this was already allocated.

Germany will have to find an additional 30 billion euros annually just to achieve the current goal of NATO of 2 % of GDP of defense, and security experts believe that it will need to increase its target to 3 %.

Schools from Friedrich Mirz and the leaders of social Democrats were scheduled to meet on Wednesday on the eve of the European Union Summit devoted to European defense Ukraine. His government collapsed late last year because the three parties in the coalition could not agree to reform debt restrictions.

The debt brakes have been written in the German constitution, or the basic law, and any change that will require a two -thirds majority in Parliament, and it does not represent a great conclusion due to the large number of seats kept by the right -wing AFD and the left party.

However, the new parliament will not be divided until late March and this procedure will initially go to the old parliament.

Boris Pisorius, Minister of Social Defense Defense in the outgoing government, said that the spending plans were a “big and important step” even if it is far from being an alliance deal. Ten days after the German elections, the parties participate in exploratory talks, which will continue on Thursday.

Pistorius told German TV that the defense removal from national debt rules was not related to weapons as much as “our country’s security – nothing more, nothing less.”

The leader of the Social Democrats Lars Klingil, who stands alongside Mirz on Tuesday, provided details of the German infrastructure plan, saying: “Our country is wearing itself.”

Loans of 500 billion euros will go to a box to cover road repairs, railways and other critical infrastructure; 100 billion euros of money will go to 16 federal states in Germany, while reducing the debt brakes to allow the states to raise small amounts of debt as well.