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.

BERLIN - Germany's Greens vowed to block plans by likely next chancellor Friedrich Merz for a massive increase in state borrowing but left room for compromise on Monday on measures to revamp the military and revive growth in Europe's biggest economy.

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

Merz's conservatives and the center-left Social Democrats – 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 legislation.

A senior ally of Germany's likely next chancellor Friedrich Merz on Tuesday was optimistic about securing support for a massive increase in state borrowing this month, seeing the basis for a deal on defence with the Greens party after emergency talks.

Plans for Germany to unleash a massive increase in state borrowing faced new questions on Wednesday, with a co-leader of the Greens party non-committal about whether a deal could be done. Election win

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.