Germany sets up $107 billion fund to modernize army

Belgian soldiers prepare weapons during training at a military base in Munster, Germany on May 10, 2022 – Photo: REUTERS

According to AFP news agency, on the evening of May 29, the ruling coalition in Germany consisted of three Social Democratic Parties (SPD), the Green Party and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and the coalition of the Christian Democrats/Socialists The opposing Churches (CDU/CSU) announced that they had agreed to establish a special fund to strengthen the federal army and a target of spending 2% of gross domestic product (GDP) on defense.

Accordingly, 100 billion euros will be poured into a special fund outside the national budget. Funding for this special fund will come from additional debt.

By violating the “debt brake” rule enshrined in the constitution, which limits government borrowing, The ruling coalition needs the support of the opposition to get the necessary majority – two-thirds in the National Assembly to pass a constitutional amendment allowing the fund to be established.

The agreement was reached after weeks of difficult negotiations between the parties. CDU/CSU wants this special fund to be reserved only for the federal military, while the Green Party wants to share it for cybersecurity as well as support other countries.

The governing coalition will have to come up with a financial plan with specific procurement projects for the federal army before the summer recess of Congress.

The fund will help increase the regular defense budget by around 50 billion euros over several years, towards meeting the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) goal of spending 2% of GDP annually on defense.

However, for Germany, to achieve the target of 2% of GDP for annual defense, the amount to be spent is nearly 70 billion euros. According to a statement released by the ruling coalition and the conservative coalition, Germany can achieve this target in the coming years, although it does not have to be achieved every year. Cash will be replenished when used up.

Three days after Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Prime Minister Olaf Scholz pledged a special budget of 100 billion euros to re-equip the German army and modernize it. obsolete equipment in the country in the next few years.

Since the end of the cold war, Germany has dramatically reduced the size of its military, from about 500,000 in 1990 to just 200,000 today.

According to a report published in December 2021 on the German military, less than 30% of German naval ships are “fully operational”. Many of the country’s fighter jets are not qualified to fly.

According to AFP, Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine has made Germany rethink.