Germany’s Green party rejected a debt-financed package that would unleash hundreds billions of euros in defense and infrastructure spending, potentially imperiling the flagship policy of chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz.

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.

Germany's Greens may refuse to back plans by likely next chancellor Friedrich Merz for a massive increase in state borrowing, with a party source on Monday warning "approval is becoming less likely with each passing day".

The German chancellor-in-waiting said he would like talks with France and Britain about sharing weapons, but not as a substitute for U.S. nuclear protection of Europe.

Europeans are reconsidering their security and giving currency to an idea the U.S. has long sought to avoid: a nuclear-armed Germany.

Germany’s chancellor-to-be, Friedrich Merz, has said he will reach out to France and Britain to discuss the sharing of nuclear weapons, but cautioned that such a move could not be a replacement for the US’s existing protective shield over Europe.