Germany is nearing an agreement to unlock €3 billion of military aid for Ukraine, alongside a broader set of measures to revamp the country’s defense and infrastructure.
The authorization is likely to come in the weeks ahead as Germany seeks to change constitutional borrowing rules to boost its military spending. The additional funding would almost double aid this year to €7 billion.
After earlier expressing concerns about the source of the funding, outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz is now ready to sign off on the Ukraine aid package amid plans to close a budget gap by creating more room for defense spending and setting up a special fund for infrastructure, according to government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit.
“In this respect, the concerns have been answered,” Hebestreit told reporters at a briefing in Berlin on Friday. “Next week we will see how far the exploratory talks have come and how the German Bundestag views the plans of the exploratory talks.”
Conservative leader Friedrich Merz is in talks with Scholz’s Social Democrats about forming a new government as well as convincing other centrist parties to drive through his plan to unleash limitless defense spending. The chancellor-to-be will have two weeks to approve legislation before a new parliament is sworn in, which would make the move more difficult.
The package is due to face stiff legal challenges. Christian Wirth, a lawmaker from the far-right Alternative for Germany, said he filed a complaint with the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe aimed at stopping a special session of the old Bundestag. Other cases are widely expected.
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