Scholz: Germany changing constitution to modernize military
Germany's Chancellor says the Ukraine conflict along with the aftermath of the pandemic might reverse the global progress of the past few decades.
Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Thursday that Germany will change its constitution in order to modernize its armed forces.
Scholz said at the World Economic Forum in Davos that the German government has decided to make 100 billion euros available in order to implement the plan to modernize the Bundeswehr.
Read more: How is Germany planning to rebuild its military?
The German chancellor said that they are implementing this step in order to defend Germany "under the new conditions created by Russia," adding that global turbulence caused by the Ukraine conflict is a threat to not only Kiev, but the entire world order.
"Not only Ukraine is in danger, but our system of international cooperation, which grew out of the 'Never again!' of two world wars. An order that binds might to right, outlaws violence, and guarantees freedom, security, and prosperity."
Moreover, Scholz declared that the war in Ukraine, coupled with the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, might in fact reverse the progress the world was able to achieve over the past few decades and trigger "the world's first famine for decades."
Due to damaged supply chains and stalled agricultural production, the World Food Programme warned on May 8 that the crisis in Ukraine will drive up food costs and increase famine around the world.
Svenja Schulze, Germany's Minister for Economic Development and Cooperation, had also said on that day that the pandemic, droughts, and the war in Ukraine are driving up food prices to new highs, frightening the globe with the worst famine since World War II.