Merz Cancels UN Trip Amid German Political Pressure

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has canceled his planned Sept. 22 trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly high-level week. A German official familiar with the chancellor’s schedule told POLITICO that, contrary to original plans, he will not travel next week because his presence is required in Berlin; the German Press Agency reported the same wording from government sources. Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul will address the Assembly instead, as he did last year. The stay-home call comes after Sunday’s state elections in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Berlin. Merz had already canceled his plan to receive the Henry Kissinger Prize from the American Academy in Berlin so he could attend a CDU/CSU parliamentary group meeting set for Sept. 22, where critical voices are expected. Reporting notes the CDU could fall below the 5 percent threshold to enter parliament in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. AfD scored strongly in the Saxony-Anhalt election on Sept. 6, and a nationwide GMS poll put AfD at 30 percent versus 20 percent for CDU/CSU. What is contested: Meeting timing differs by account—one places the parliamentary group meeting on Sept. 22; another says CDU top leadership meets Monday and the parliamentary group meets Wednesday. No rated center or right coverage is in the record; only one left-rated outlet appears. Wadephul’s U.N. speech and the post-vote party meetings are next.