The Bundesrat decides to amend the Basic Law, which clears the way for the special fund for the Bundeswehr. Loans can now be taken out for the planned EUR 100 billion.
The way for the billion-euro program to upgrade the armed forces is free. On Friday he Federal Council a necessary amendment to the Basic Law was waved through. The necessary two-thirds majority came together in the state chamber. A week ago, the change was already through the Bundestag gone.
Federal Council also approves law on the structure of the special fund
The special fund of 100 billion euros should soon be available to the troops. It is now allowed to take out loans of this amount while circumventing the debt brake. Article 87a was added to the Basic Law for this purpose. The Bundesrat also approved the law of the Bundestag, which regulates the structure of the special fund.
With the 100 billion euros, tanks, airplanes, ships, helicopters and ammunition are to be purchased in the coming years. Equipment such as radios and night vision devices should also be bought with the money. The Bundeswehr is to be equipped and upgraded again.
Armed Forces rearmament to usher in a turning point
By decision of the Bundesrat, the Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) proclaimed “turning point” is slowly taking shape. The federal government insists on better operational capability of the army in order to prepare for the war in the Ukraine and to respond to the Russian threat. The term “broken savings”, which was often used in the course of the Bundeswehr, should be a thing of the past.
Scholz announced the massive rearmament and the special fund a few days after Russia invaded Ukraine. Germany should now, at least for a few years, reach the two percent target of NATO. This states that a country should spend 2 percent of its gross domestic product on the military.
