VIDEO German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announces fundamental change to German policy. After decades of self-imposed pacifism after World War Two, Germany will significantly increase defense investments and break-away from energy dependece on Russia. Full Speech in translated in English

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz gave a speech on Sunday in which he announced fundamental changes in German politics in recent decades.

He renounced self-imposed post-World War II pacifism and announced that Germany would increase military spending to „more than 2%” of GDP per year and release an exceptional €100 billion package to modernize its defenses. The decision comes after years of diplomatic wars with the US and other NATO allies who have demanded Berlin meet its military commitments.

He said the German military would receive €100 billion from the federal budget for investment and weapons projects, at a time when the financing of the German armed forces has long been a bone of contention between Berlin and Washington, according to Agerpres.

The second big change is breaking the energy dependence on Russia, advocated both by former Chancellor Angela Merkel (who deepened it by giving up nuclear power) and former SPD chief Gerhard Schroeder, now head of the Gazprom group.

The German chancellor announced the construction of two new liquefied natural gas terminals, at Brunsbüttel and Wilhelmshaven (northern Germany), in response to the Ukrainian conflict. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Germany suspended certification of the Nord Stream 2 project, which would bring Russian natural gas via the Baltic Sea.

See Olaf Scholz’s historic speech below:

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