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.

German Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz was set to make a last-ditch attempt on Friday to convince the Greens of his plans for a massive increase in state borrowing to bolster defence and infrastructure ahead of a parliamentary vote next week.

BERLIN — Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting in a fiery Bundestag debate Thursday urged Green lawmakers to pass constitutional amendments that would unleash up to €1 trillion in new spending to bolster the country’s military and invest in its economy.

German Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz is open to making concessions to the Greens to secure support for constitutional changes that would unleash hundreds of billions of euros in defense and infrastructure spending.

German conservative leader Friedrich Merz reached a tentative agreement with the Green party on a debt-funded spending package for defense and infrastructure, people familiar with the discussions said.

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 Greens are ready to negotiate and are hoping for an agreement by the end of this week in a dispute over defense spending with the country’s prospective next ruling coalition led by Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz.