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German opposition leader and Christian Democratic Union party chairman Friedrich Merz attends a debate and voting about loosen the country's debt rules and change constitution in the German Parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, March 18, 2025
THE prospective German government’s plans to enable higher military spending by loosening strict debt rules cleared their final parliamentary hurdle today with approval by the upper house.
The chamber, which represents Germany’s 16 state governments, approved the measure proposed by likely next chancellor Friedrich Merz with the necessary two-thirds majority.
Its endorsement followed approval on Tuesday by the lower house.
Tens of thousands of students left their classrooms and took to the streets against conscription and rising military spending. NICK WRIGHT reports from Berlin
JOHN GREEN observes how Berlin’s transformation from socialist aspiration to imperial nostalgia mirrors Germany’s dangerous trajectory under Chancellor Merz — a BlackRock millionaire and anti-communist preparing for a new war with Russia
