The German chancellor-in-waiting, Friedrich Merz, has won a vote in parliament to allow a huge increase in state borrowing that is set to super-charge the country’s military spending.

Germany's parliament voted Tuesday in favor of incoming chancellor Friedrich Merz's massive debt reform, which will free up hundreds of billions of euros for Europe's defenses amid Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine.

The law will exempt spending on defence and security from Germany's strict debt rules, and create a €500bn ($547bn; £420bn) infrastructure fund. This vote is a historic move for traditionally debt-shy Germany,

Germany's would-be next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, won lawmakers' approval to loosen strict debt rules for higher defense spending as doubts mount about the strength of the trans-Atlantic alliance.

Germany's parliament approved plans for a massive spending surge on Tuesday, throwing off decades of fiscal conservatism in hopes of reviving economic growth and scaling up military spending for a new era of European collective defence.

Yesterday, the German parliament approved a historic amount of debt-funded investment in defence and infrastructure. Over the next few years, Germany may spend up to €1 trillion (£841 billion) on