Ex-foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier was elected Germany’s new president on Sunday.<br /><br /> The Social Democrat, 61, takes on the largely ceremonial role from 77-year-old Joachim Gauck, a former Lutheran pastor who made his mark as an anti-communist leader in the former East Germany.<br /><br /> In line with German tradition, Steinmeier was not elected directly by the people but by members of the federal parliament and special delegates from 16 regional parliaments.<br /><br /> Steinmeier was guaranteed victory in the vote, with support not only from his SPD party – the junior partner in Angela Merkel’s ruling ‘grand coalition’ – but also by the Chancellor’s own ‘Christian Democrats’.<br /><br /> The role of president makes Steinmeier a moral authority and Germany’s head of state, meaning he will represent the country abroad.<br /><br /> That could create tensions with the US as he has been an outspoken critic of new President Donald Trump, at one point referring to him as a ‘preacher of hate’.<br />
