German lawmakers have voted to allow a huge increase in defence and infrastructure spending - a seismic shift for the country that could reshape European defence. A two-thirds majority of Bundestag parliamentarians, required for the change, approved the vote on Tuesday.

Germany’s Bundestag, or Lower House of Parliament, passed a historic bill allowing it to sidestep its strict rules on debt to spend big on defence and infrastructure. Why is this move a big deal? And why does its timing matter?