Overview
- Government sources confirmed late Tuesday that Chancellor Friedrich Merz will not travel to New York for the UN General Debate and will remain in Berlin because his presence is needed for party business.
- The cancellation responds to intense internal criticism after the CDU’s poor showing in Sachsen‑Anhalt and to state elections in Mecklenburg‑Vorpommern and Berlin scheduled just before the UN session.
- Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, who was already planning to attend, will take over parts of the chancellor’s program and deliver Germany’s speech, which will be scheduled later because ministers speak after heads of state and government at the UN General Debate.
- Merz has called an emergency series of CDU meetings — the party presidium, an expanded leadership circle and the CDU/CSU parliamentary group — to discuss the election fallout and possible next steps.
- The decision exposes a wider leadership strain that critics link to Merz’s absence from the UN since taking office and to Germany’s failed bid for a temporary UN Security Council seat, and it could reduce Berlin’s diplomatic visibility during a dense week of bilateral talks.