Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz wants to alter Germany's strict fiscal rules to massively boost defence spending, the Greens are standing in his way. View on euronews

Even though negotiations to form a coalition have not yet begun, the head of the Christian Democratic Union party, which came out on top in Germany's February 23 elections, has already embarked on major projects in his country and abroad.

The party said they would not support the conservative chancellor-in-waiting’s paradigm-changing plan to invest massively in defense and infrastructure.

The deal jointly proposed by the center-right CDU, whose leader Friedrich Merz is likely Germany's next chancellor, and center-left Social Democrats also calls for a €500 billion special fund for infrastructure spending.

Germany's chancellor-in-waiting and leader of the Christian Democratic Union party (CDU) Friedrich Merz speaks during an extraordinary meeting of the German Bundestag to discuss a €500-billion infrastructure fund and a revamp of borrowing rules aimed at modernizing the military and stimulating economic growth ahead of the formation of a new parliament at end of March,

German conservative leader Friedrich Merz reached an agreement with the Green party on a debt-funded spending package for defense and infrastructure, overcoming a key hurdle ahead of a crunch vote in parliament next week.