German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced plans for a massive boost in defense spending in the latest historic policy shift in Berlin triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Germany will channel €100 billion ($113 billion) this year into a fund to modernize the military, Scholz said Sunday in a speech to a special session of the lower house of parliament. Going forward it will spend more than 2% of gross domestic product each year on defense, he added, in line with a NATO target that Berlin has consistently failed to meet.
Scholz had been widely criticized by opponents and allies alike in recent weeks for what they perceived as dithering and weakness in the face of Russia’s mounting aggression toward Ukraine. In the past few days he has announced a series of radical changes to long-entrenched German policies following the full-scale attack ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin on the former Soviet republic.
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