German Chancellor Freidrich Merz has reportedly canceled his planned trip to the UN General Assembly in New York, as his political future hangs in the balance after a landslide loss to the right-wing AfD in state elections.
Merz was scheduled to travel to New York next week, where high-level meetings between world leaders kick off at UN headquarters. However, a German government source told Reuters on Tuesday that the trip had been canceled, as the chancellor’s “presence is required in Berlin.”
According to another source, Merz’ Christian Democrats (CDU) have called a special meeting for Sunday.
The CDU is reeling from its state election loss to the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt last week. The AfD secured 43.8% of the vote, with the CDU a distant second at 17.2%. Merz’ party has been trailing the AfD in opinion polls for over a year, and an equally dismal performance is expected in elections in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Berlin this weekend, where the CDU is polling at 7% and 20%, respectively.
