German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday announced a major increase in the country's defense spending, marking one of the most significant changes in decades to the country's post-World War II approach to security and possibly upending European defense policy.
German lawmakers were still debating the plans as over 100,000 protesters assembled just a few meters away in front of the Brandenburg Gate to rally for peace. The scale of the protest — one of the largest in years — took authorities by surprise, and provided a visible display of just how deeply Russia's invasion of Ukraine has shaken Germans this week.
Germany, Europe's biggest economy and the most populous nation in the E.U., had long frustrated the United States and allies across the continent with its hesitation to invest more in its military. Its stance obstructed numerous attempts to formulate a more ambitious European security strategy, including repeated efforts from French President Emmanuel Macron to form a European army.
The dramatic escalation in Europe's response has been cheered by European foreign policy hawks who had long advocated that the continent get serious in its response to the Russian threat. But reactions have been tinged by deep regret that the toughened stance didn't come sooner.
"What has happened in the last few days has been a serious wake up call for Europe, a serious wake up call for the NATO alliance and, tragically and very sadly for Ukraine, a wake up call too late in the day," said Richard Dannatt, a retired general and former British army chief. "We should have seen what Vladimir Putin has been up to."
Speaking in the German parliament on Sunday, Scholz called Russia's attack on Ukraine "a turning point in the history of our continent" and announced a set of new measures. The German military will receive a one-off additional payment of over $110 billion, he said — about twice the amount of Germany's defense budget last year.
"Better and more modern equipment, more staff, that costs a lot of money," Scholz told lawmakers in a special session.
Scholz's plans are unlikely to have an immediate impact on the current crisis in Ukraine. Germany won't be sending troops to the country, and neither will any other members of the NATO alliance, which have been wary of being drawn into a direct confrontation with nuclear weapons-armed Russia. But the German plans could have profound ripple effects within the European Union and NATO, which Ukraine is not a member of.