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.

German Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz said on Friday he had secured the crucial backing of the Greens for a massive increase in state borrowing, clearing the way for the outgoing parliament to approve the historic deal next week.

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