Overview
- Multiple outlets report that President Frank‑Walter Steinmeier this week increased private contacts and phoned Vice‑Chancellor Lars Klingbeil and Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt to express concern about the coalition’s state.
- The Bundespräsidialamt declined to comment on the calls and the Kanzleramt and Merz’s circle have played down their urgency, with spokespeople insisting the government remains able to act.
- Lawmakers reached a last‑minute compromise on the Pflegereform but the larger Rentenreform is still unresolved, and senior SPD figures including Bärbel Bas have been intermittently absent from crucial negotiating rounds.
- Steinmeier’s outreach matters constitutionally because the president can formally decide on dissolving the Bundestag and calling early elections, a role he exercised after the 2024 confidence vote.
- All eyes are on the Koalitionsausschuss meeting next Wednesday to see if the pact can be stabilised; some outlets treat the president’s calls as an alarm signal while government briefings stress continued cooperation.