The pledge, which the Chancellor made in an interview with several domestic newspapers, came after the country's major parliamentary factions agreed, on Sunday night, to a special exemption required to borrow the money and invest it in the military.
The ruling coalition needed the support of opposition lawmakers to secure two thirds of the votes to adopt the decision, which requires an amendment of Germany's Basic Law. The actual vote is expected to take place before the summer recess of the parliament.
Scholz praised the passage of the bill on Twitter, saying the extra billions would turn the Bundeswehr into a fighting force that "can fulfill its defense mission better than ever before." The chancellor proposed creating the special military fund in February, days after Russia's attack against Ukraine.
Comment: Rather suspicious, and ominous, timing.
Germany currently has the fourth-largest military force among NATO members, but the bloc's biggest armies are fielded by non-European nations: the US and Turkey. It will need to surpass France in army strength to deliver on Scholz's pledge. The strength of the French military is 240,000 active and reserve service members, compared to 199,000 in Germany, according to the Global Firepower Index.
Reader Comments
As said, this autumn we will much more down-to-earth problems, especially Germany.
And yes, Germany is still de facto occupied, and in a state of war (WWII). Not only do they have a peace treaty with Russia only, the repercussions of the current Ukraine war will very possibly bring an end to this vassal state.
Maybe I'm looking into this a bit too much but, could these countries who are financially strapped be building up their military powers to grab recourses from other "unfriendly" countries? Countries in the 1930's were suffering through the depressions raging on, and what did they all need? Resources.
Also war makes money... So there's that...
And Germany is firmly embedded in the US apparatus: [Link]