
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Friday dissolved the German parliament and set new elections for Feb. 23.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz suffered a coalition collapse and lost a vote of no confidnce on Decmber 16, leaving the country with a heavily impaired minorty govenment.
Steinmeier attempted to reconcile between rival parties but eventually resorted to new elections, saying: "It is precisely in difficult times like these that stability requires a government capable of taking action and a reliable majority in parliament."