Steinmeier: The style of the Federal Government must change

Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier expects the new federal government to present a better image than the coalition with traffic lights did recently. The style among each other must be different, Steinmeier told MDR aktuell. The Federal President warned "not to stage every dispute in public".

The focus must be on solving problems and finding compromises. People expect answers on the subject of energy prices, for example. They need impetus that leads to an improvement in living and economic conditions.

Steinmeier was optimistic that lost trust in democratic institutions could be regained. "My plea is: let's invest even more time and more presence to get back into conversation with people where the conversation has been lost."

Steinmeier: Don't equate AfD and East Germany

With a view to the election results, he opposed equating the AfD and East Germany. "It is not a specifically East German phenomenon that people join other parties, even out of protest."

Steinmeier had moved his official residence to Saxony for three days this week as part of his "Local Time Germany" series of visits. In Delitzsch, he learned about local problems and the establishment of the Federal Research Center for the Chemical Industry.