German parliament votes to fund army
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Germany's parliament votes to amend constitution to modernize army.
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A general view of the plenary hall of the German lower house of parliament, April 28, 2022 (Reuters)
The lower house of Germany's parliament approved a constitutional amendment to create a €100 billion fund in order to modernize the German armed forces in the face of Russia, according to the AFP.
Bundestag MPs approved the amendment 567 - 96, with 20 abstentions, as the government and opposition had both reached a deal on Sunday.
Berlin had for years faced criticism from its close allies that it was failing to achieve NATO's target of spending two percent of its GDP on defense.
Read More: How is Germany planning to rebuild its military?
"This is the moment in which Germany says we are there when Europe needs us," Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock of the Green party told MPs.
Germany's Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, had pledged to modernize the German military with a budget of €100 million over the next few years. This would allow Berlin to reach the 2% of GDP target on defense spending.
Russia denounced Germany's move and accused it of "remilitarizing," and using language that is reminiscent of its Nazi past.
"We take that as another confirmation that Berlin is on the path to a new re-militarisation," said Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova. "We know only too well how that can end," hinting at Germany's re-armament program under Hitler, which led to the Second World War.
The head of the Defense Committee in the German parliament (Bundestag), Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, said that the modernization project of the German Armed Forces requires a re-inventing of "an image of the enemy."
“What we need – that may sound belligerent – what the Bundeswehr needs from its point of view to act is an image of an enemy,” the MP told RND, explaining that over the years, Germany's military lost the image of a potential enemy, particularly since Russia was no longer seen as an enemy in the post-Cold War era, during what she called the "appeasement policy."
"Now we know what an enemy might look like; what it looks like in this case,” she said, adding that current developments mean NATO has to "adapt" to potential 'threats from China and Iran' and develop a strategy to deal with Russia.
