Germany’s new conservative victors in Sunday’s election are considering circumventing strict spending rules in order to adopt a potential new massive defense package as alarm grows that the United States will no longer help protect NATO within Europe. But the move could come within weeks. Workarounds to Germany’s constitutional spending restraints requires a two-thirds majority in parliament, which could allow two parties that finished strongly in the February 23rd vote — the far right, pro Kremlin Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) and The Left, which opposes military spending to block the package.

Germany’s newly elected lawmakers must convene by March 25th, 2025, potentially giving the parliament just weeks to react. The lawmakers have confirmed that talks on a potential defense package and ways on financing it are taking place. Freidrich Merz, the conservative leader set to become Germany’s next Chancellor, was guarded when questioned about the possibility by a reporter on Tuesday. Merz says that, “We are talking to each other, but it is far too early to say anything about it now. I see it as  very difficult at the moment. But as I said, there are talks. That’s all I can say.”

Merz and outgoing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz of the SPD (Social Democratic Party) had met for well over an hour in Berlin on Tuesday. According to the Bloomberg Report, Merz had approached the SPD to negotiate a 200 billion euro special defense spending package. When asked about it on Tuesday, Merz said he could “neither confirm nor deny” that sum. 

In the beginning of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine starting in 2022, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the left leaning coalition, and the conservative opposition had agreed on a 100 billion euro special fund for military armament, providing a precedent for similar action now. The discussion comes amid growing alarms in Germany over Trump’s stance toward Ukraine and the European Defense. After the Sunday election, Merz said that Europe must be prepared to go on it alone in defense.

Merz had said “my absolute priority will be to strengthen Europe as quickly as possible so that, step by step, we can really achieve independence from the USA.” Merz also stated that, “I never thought I would have to say something like this on a television program. But after Donald Trump’s statements last week… it is clear that the Americans, at least this part of the Americans, this administration, are largely indifferent to the fate of Europe.”