Germany’s Frank-Walter Steinmeier is hotly tipped to become the country’s next president after Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats agreed to back his candidacy. <br /><br /> Currently foreign minister, if approved, the Social Democrat would take up the largely ceremonial post from incumbent, Joachim Gauck, in February next year, when the president steps down. <br /><br /> Merkel’s CDU party is said to have reluctantly thrown its weight behind Steinmeier after failing to find a suitable candidate of its own.<br />
