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Merkel’s agreement on Steinmeier can be seen as the only responsible course of action (Photo: consilium.europa.au)

Frank-Walter Steinmeier, president and Pyrrhic victor

The world was still recovering from the turbulent presidential elections in the US when Germany, another key Western power, picked its next head of state.

In an improvised and rushed ceremony this week, the leaders of the governing Christian and Social democratic parties presented current foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier as their joint candidate and, indeed president-elect, as the February 2017 vote is a formality.

After all, the parties backing Steinmeier command an ove...

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The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s, not those of EUobserver

Author Bio

Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.

Merkel’s agreement on Steinmeier can be seen as the only responsible course of action (Photo: consilium.europa.au)

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Author Bio

Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.

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