Another new president with anti-Trump views

Former German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has just been elected as the country's new president, succeeding Joachim Gauck.

New German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Photo: Reuters

With 931 out of 1,260 votes from a parliamentary committee, Mr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, 61, officially became the new president of Germany. The special election committee includes 630 lawmakers from the lower house of parliament and 630 representatives from 16 states, according to Fox News.

Mr Steinmeier, a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), is supported by both the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU) parties in the ruling coalition.

Mr. Steinmeier had strongly criticized Mr. Donald Trump during the US election. German daily Berliner Morgenpost also called Mr. Steinmeier "the anti-Trump president".

After Mr Trump was elected US president, Mr Steinmeier predicted that relations between Germany and the US would become "more difficult", and said his staff was struggling to define a "clear and coherent" foreign policy from the Trump administration.

According to VNE