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Ilse Aigner, candidate for president of Germany, speaks to the media in Berlin, Germany, November 9, 2026. (AP Photo/ Markus Schreiber)

BERLIN, Germany (AP) — Germany is set to get its first female president after Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s party nominated Ilse Aigner, a center-right politician with appeal to liberals, to become the country’s largely ceremonial head of state next year.

Aigner presented herself Monday as a unifying figure in an increasingly polarized country, saying that she hopes to represent a “strong center.” She said the broad political support taking shape around her is “an important signal against populist and extremist forces in our country.”

The new head of state will be elected January 30, when a special parliamentary assembly chooses a successor to President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who is constitutionally barred from seeking a third five-year term.…