On Friday, the Bundestag approved the amendment to the Basic Law for the Bundeswehr special fund with the necessary two-thirds majority. 683 deputies voted in favor of this in a roll-call vote, there were 96 votes against and 20 abstentions. With an additional 100 billion euros, equipment deficits in the Bundeswehr are to be eliminated.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced the special fund in his “Zeitenwende” speech on February 27 as a reaction to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. “We are facing up to our historical responsibility,” said Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner before the vote for the project.
The amendment to the Basic Law stipulates that a new, debt-financed 100 billion euro fund for better equipment for the Bundeswehr does not fall under the debt brake. The fund itself will be set up by a simple law that the Bundestag wanted to vote on this afternoon.
