Merkel praises decision of backing FM Steinmeier as German president

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier arrive for the weekly cabinet meeting at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, November 9, 2016. [Photo/VCG]

BERLIN - After Germany's ruling coalition agreed to support Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier as a candidate for German presidential election, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday that the decision is "a sensible solution".

Merkel said, the decision for backing Steinmeier as German future president is a "signal of stability in times of global unrest and instability".

"I know him as a reliable politician who is always geared towards compensation and solutions," Merkel said, adding that she had personally informed the politician of Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the morning about her party's decision to support his candidacy.

After monthly debates, Merkel's Union party, a bloc of Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party Christian Social Union (CSU), agreed to support Steinmeier as the new German president after the SPD.

Following the decision, Steinmeier said that he saw a "giant responsibility" with the office of German president.

"This is, of course, a very special day, and I am grateful for the great support I received," said Steinmeier on Monday evening in Berlin just before his departure to Turkey.