Germany to invest 100 bn euros in military investments: Scholz

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Germany will invest 100 billion euros ($112 billion) in military equipment this year and plow more than 2% of its economic output in defense annually, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Sunday, as Russia's operation of Ukraine prompts Europe's biggest economy to switch gears on its military policy.

"We will set up a special 'Bundeswehr' fund," he told parliament in a special sitting, adding that the budget will be used for investments and armaments projects.

"We will from now on -- year after year -- invest more than 2% of the gross domestic product in our defense," he said, calling for the special army fund should be written into the constitution.

The move is significant for Germany, which has come under criticism from the United States and other NATO allies for not sufficiently investing in its defense budget.

Scholz’s announcement, which came during a special session of Germany’s Bundestag Sunday morning, was the latest in a series of major shifts in German defense and security policy this weekend in response to Russia’s operation in Ukraine.

On Saturday evening, the German government announced it would be sending weapons and other supplies directly to Ukraine, which is fighting to keep Russia from "invading" its capital city.

The German army watched their forces drop from 500,000 in 1989 to less than 200,000 today, according to Le Monde newspaper. Faced with this situation, the government promised to boost its resources.