Germany will borrow more than 800 billion euros for rearmament
Germany plans to raise approximately 838 billion euros between 2027 and 2030, marking a complete departure from decades of strict fiscal restraint. This move is intended to bring defense spending to levels not seen since the Cold War.
Next year alone, Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government intends to borrow more than 200 billion euros on the markets, which is 12.5% higher than this year’s figures.
The additional debt will be used primarily to finance the country’s defense budget, which will reach 109 billion euros next year and grow to 183.6 billion euros by 2030. Furthermore, Berlin has allocated 11.6 billion euros for military aid to Ukraine next year. This large-scale militarization is driven by the growing threat from Russia and the risks of a reduced U.S. military presence in Europe under President Donald Trump.
To implement this program, Merz’s party (CDU) and its coalition partners, the Social Democrats (SPD), amended the constitutional “debt brake,” exempting military spending from its provisions. A special €500 billion infrastructure fund was also established to modernize railways, roads, schools, and energy grids. This new course sparked internal debate due to the departure from Germany’s traditional doctrine of a balanced budget (“Schwarze Null”). However, Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil strongly defended this decision, emphasizing that it is impossible to defend against Putin through budgetary restraint.
This was reported by the Financial Times.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius called for an increased presence of the Bundeswehr, as well as the armed forces of other European NATO member states, in the Arctic region. He attributed this to U.S. territorial claims on Greenland, as well as growing security challenges from Russia and China.
The NATO Secretary General warned of a “devastating” Russian response to any attempt to blockade the Suwalki Corridor.
