Germany's likely next leader Friedrich Merz said Thursday urgent action was needed to boost the country's under-resourced military and ailing economy, as he defended plans for a spending bonanza during a fiery parliamentary debate.
Merz's conservatives and the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) -- in talks to form a coalition after February's general election -- unveiled the plans for vast extra outlays last week, and are now racing to push them through the current legislature.
"In view of the alarming security situation in Europe in every respect and the growing economic challenges in our country, far-reaching decisions... cannot be postponed any longer," Merz told lawmakers at the start of the debate.
When it came to the armed forces in particular, "any further delay" in boosting spending "would be irresponsible", he said. "We must now take action to significantly increase our defence capabilities, and we must do so quickly."
Fraying Europe-US ties under President Donald Trump have fuelled calls for Germany, long dependent on the US security umbrella, to quickly boost military funding, while infrastructure spending is seen as a route to pull Europe's top economy out of stagnation.
Merz's plans envisage exempting defence spending from the country's strict debt rules when it exceeds one percent of GDP and setting up a 500-billion-euro ($545-billion) fund for infrastructure investments.
While the plans have won praise from German allies abroad, who grew weary of inaction under outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Merz faces a desperate scramble to push them through parliament.