Chancellor Friedrich Merz has canceled his planned trip to New York next week for the UN General Debate, government circles said Tuesday.
"Contrary to original plans, the chancellor will not travel to New York next week, as his presence in Berlin is required," the dpa news agency quoted government circles.
Merz's speech at the General Debate of the UN General Assembly had been scheduled by the UN for Wednesday, three days after regional elections in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Berlin on Sept. 20.
Next Monday, senior leaders of Merz's Christian Democratic Union will hold internal party meetings. Two days later, lawmakers from the CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the CSU, will meet as a group in the German parliament -- key sessions for a chancellor under pressure after the state elections.
The cancellation came as debate about Merz's future intensified after a sharp conservative loss in Saxony-Anhalt and a new nationwide poll put the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) well ahead of his Christian Democrats.
A GMS survey published Monday put the AfD at a record 30% nationwide, 10 points ahead of Merz's center-right Christian Democratic Union and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, which fell to 20%.
The Social Democrats (SPD) stood at 11%. Combined, the chancellor's coalition would fall short of a parliamentary majority if a national election were held this week.
The figures mark a sharp shift from the Feb. 23, 2025, federal election, when the CDU/CSU won 28.5% and the anti-immigration AfD 20.8%.
The poll was published days before regional elections in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Berlin on Sunday. The votes are being watched as a further test of Merz after the AfD won 43.8% in Saxony-Anhalt on Sept. 6. In that eastern state, the CDU slumped to a historic low of 17.2%.
Speculation has grown for weeks about a possible change of chancellor, with North Rhine-Westphalia Premier Hendrik Wuest named as a potential successor inside the CDU.
A leadership fight inside the Christian Democrats after the state elections would not, by itself, dissolve the German parliament or force a snap national vote. If party pressure pushed Merz out, parliament could elect a new chancellor without a national vote.
