Overview
- Bundespräsident Frank-Walter Steinmeier publicly praised the black-red coalition's reform package and described the government as moving from a defensive stance into a more proactive 'forward play'.
- He said structural reforms are necessary given multiple years without economic growth and growing external risks, arguing the package seeks to strengthen performance systems rather than raise incomes immediately.
- Steinmeier did not attack the cuts tied to the reforms and cautioned that measures designed to stabilise budgets and services will create stress for people used to different benefits.
- He urged the government to regain the will to shape policy and suggested lifting the coalition's internal self-blockade could mark a new phase in its politics.
- The comments were made in a pre-recorded ZDF 'Sommerinterview' whose excerpts were released before the full broadcast, increasing public visibility of the president's endorsement.