Germany’s parliament has approved a 100 billion euro ($107.2 billion) special defense fund that Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced in response to the “Russian invasion” of Ukraine.

This money will be added to the regular defense budget of about 50 billion euros over several years to help rebuild the army, which was neglected for years after the end of the Cold War.

The government has decided to amend the constitution to create a fund to free it from what in Germany is called the debt brake, which requires the government to control spending.

He needed the support of the conservative opposition, as well as the governing coalition, to secure the two-thirds majority needed for any constitutional amendment.

The fund should allow Germany to meet NATO’s target of spending 2% of the country’s output annually on defense, making Germany the third-largest defense spender after the US and China.