BERLIN—Germany’s Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, on Friday approved creation of the 100 billion euro ($107.2 billion) special defence fund that Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The money is destined to top up the regular defence budget of around 50 billion euros over several years to help re-build Germany’s military, which has suffered years of neglect following the end of the Cold war.
The government decided to amend the constitution to create the fund in order to exempt it from Germany’s so-called debt brake that enforces fiscal restraint. It needed backing from the opposition conservatives as well as the ruling coalition in order to reach the two-thirds parliamentary majority needed for a constitutional change….