The lower house of the German Parliament voted Tuesday to bankroll a massive militarization plan as a backstop against Russian aggression.
Christian Democratic Union leader Friedrich Merz pushed his fellow lawmakers to approve multiple amendments to the constitution that allow the government to side-step a “debt brake” clause that puts limits on its borrowing.
“We have, for at least a decade, felt a false sense of security,” Merz said, according to translations from German outlet Deutsche Welle. “The decision we are taking today on defense readiness … can be nothing less than the first major step toward a new European defense community, which also includes countries that are not members of the European Union.”
The Russian war on Ukraine “is also a war against our country,” Merz said. “One that is taking place daily with attacks on our data networks, with the destruction of supply lines, with arson attacks, with contract killings in the heart of our country.”
The legislation, dubbed a “fiscal bazooka” by the German media, will now go to the upper chamber, known as the Bundesrat, for a vote on Friday.
The CDU was helped by the Social Democratic Party and the Greens to pass the amendments, though not without some scolding from their left-wing partners for not addressing the issue sooner.
The Bundestag is set to reshuffle on March 25 to reflect the outcome of last month’s parliamentary election. The CDU came in first-place but hemorrhaged supporters into second-place Alternative for Germany, which is staunchly against lifting the debt brake due to concerns on fiscal responsibility.
The proposal was put forward this week in order to capitalize on the CDU’s more powerful position within the current Bundestag.
Alternative for Germany co-leader Tino Chrupalla lambasted Merz for slipping the proposal in before the next Bundestag is formed, calling the vote a “spectacle” that “betrayed” the German electorate.
“What a spectacle you’re subjecting the citizens and our voters to,” Chrupalla said, according to translations. “The most valuable asset politicians have is credibility. With these embarrassing actions, dear Mr. Merz, you’ve already completely lost yours.
“The voters feel betrayed by you — and rightly so.”
Despite doubling their base of support in the February election with 20.8%, AfD remains unwelcome in mainstream German politics.
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The ostensibly conservative CDU is likely to form a coalition with the staunchly left-wing SDP in the new Parliament in order to avoid interacting with AfD, which is accused of being too “far-right” for post-World War II Germany.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance scolded German lawmakers earlier this year for maintaining a “firewall” against AfD, lamenting “old entrenched interests hiding behind ugly Soviet-era words like misinformation and disinformation, who simply don’t like the idea that somebody with an alternative viewpoint might express a different opinion.”