President Frank-Walter Steinmeier dissolved Germany’s lower house of parliament to pave the way for snap elections on Feb. 23 following the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s 3-way coalition, writes Reuters.

“Especially in difficult times, like now, stability requires a government capable of acting, and reliable majorities in parliament”, which was why early elections were the right way forward for Germany, Steinmeier said in Berlin.

After the elections, problem-solving must become the core business of politics again, added Steinmeier in a speech.

The president, whose post has been largely ceremonial in the post-war era, also called for the election campaign to be conducted fairly and transparently.

“External influence is a danger to democracy, whether it is covert, as was evidently the case recently in the Romanian elections, or open and blatant, as is currently being practiced particularly intensively on (social media) platform X”, - he said.