Germany in talks to approve €200 billion in defense

CDU leader and future German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is in talks with the SPD Social Democrats to try to quickly approve 200 billion euros in special defense spending , according to Bloomberg, which cited a source familiar with the negotiations.

Sources heard by the news agency say that the possibility of putting a new package to a vote that would double the amount approved three years ago is on the table.

Merz, who won Sunday's election , has promised to invest in defense to counter the Russian offensive but with less than two-thirds of the vote, the traditional parties do not have a majority to get around constitutional limits on debt. However, according to the news agency, they could get around this difficulty by forcing a vote before the new legislature , which starts on March 24.

"There is now a blocking majority on the far left and the far right," Merz told reporters on Monday.

The Chamber of Deputies " is still capable of making decisions at any time ," he added.

"Whether we will decide or should decide is something I will discuss with the parties that are still in the Budestag," the parliament of the federal republic.

Despite the significant rise of the far right, Merz has already stated that he wants to form a coalition with the SPD by Easter. Trump has set the same deadline for a peace agreement in Ukraine.