Germany’s likely next leader seeks approval for huge defence and infrastructure package

Germany’s would-be next Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, asked lawmakers on Tuesday to loosen the nation’s strict debt rules to enable higher defence spending as doubts mount about the strength of the trans-Atlantic alliance and to authorise an enormous fund for investment in its creaking infrastructure, financed by large-scale borrowing. The plans need a two-thirds majority in parliament’s lower house, the Bundestag, because they involve changes to Germany’s strict self-imposed borrowing rules – the so-called “debt brake,” which allows new borrowing worth only 0.35% of annual gross domestic product and is anchored in the constitution. Mr. Merz said earlier this month that Germany and Europe must quickly strengthen their defence capability and that “‘whatever it takes’ must also go for our defence now.” On Tuesday, he pointed to the danger from Russian President Vladimir “Putin’s war of aggression against Europe – it is a war against Europe and not just a war against Ukraine’s territorial integrity.” He pointed to suspected Russian sabotage and disinformation in Europe. Mr. Merz said the prospective German government’s move should be “the first step toward a new European defence community,” which could include countries outside the European Union such as Britain and Norway.