Merz Cancels UN Trip as State Election Pressure Mounts at Home

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has called off a planned trip to the United Nations General Assembly next week, as his government braces for a pair of difficult state elections that could further erode his political standing.

A government official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the trip had not been formally announced, said Merz would not travel to New York as originally scheduled. The chancellor's presence, the official said, is required in Berlin. Merz had been expected to address the General Assembly next Wednesday.

No explanation was given for why Merz needed to remain in Germany. The cancellation comes amid growing speculation about the chancellor's position following a sharp defeat for his center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) at the hands of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt on September 6. The result has damaged the authority of an already unpopular chancellor as he seeks to push through reforms to Germany's sluggish economy.

Two more regional elections are scheduled for Sunday: one in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, another largely rural eastern state, and one in Berlin. The AfD is expected to make significant gains in both, though it has no realistic path to power in the capital and faces a stronger challenge in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania from the incumbent center-left governor than it did from Merz's party in Saxony-Anhalt.

The outlook for the CDU is more uncertain. Sixteen months after the 70-year-old Merz became Germany's leader, his party could lose the Berlin mayor's office it has held since 2023. In a worst-case scenario, it could fail to win seats in a state legislature for the first time, falling below the 5% threshold in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, a region where it was already weak.