Merz skips UNGA trip as German state polls intensify pressure at home
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has cancelled his planned trip to the UN General Assembly next week as he comes under growing pressure at home amid a run of difficult state elections. Merz had been expected to speak at the General Assembly next Wednesday, but a government official said on Wednesday that he will not travel to New York.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the trip had not been announced officially, said Merz would stay back because "his presence is required in Berlin". There was no immediate explanation for why he needed to remain in Germany, but the move comes at a tense political moment for the chancellor.
Speculation has been rising over Merz's position after his centre-right party suffered a sharp defeat to the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, in the September 6 election in the eastern region of Saxony-Anhalt. The result weakened the authority of the already unpopular chancellor as he seeks to push through reforms to Germany's sluggish economy.
Two more regional elections are due on Sunday, one in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, another largely rural eastern state, and the other in Berlin, the capital. The AfD is expected to make significant gains in both contests, though it has no realistic path to power in Berlin and faces a much stronger challenge from the current centre-left governor in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania than it did from Merz's party in Saxony-Anhalt.
The outlook for Merz's centre-right Christian Democratic Union appears difficult, 16 months after the 70-year-old became Germany's leader. The party could lose the mayor's office in Berlin, which it has held since 2023, and if the result is especially poor, it could for the first time fail to win seats in a state legislature anywhere by falling below 5 per cent of the vote in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, where it was already weak. Merz's decision to cancel the New York trip comes as he faces mounting political pressure at home ahead of these key elections.
