Story perspectives

Merz cancels UN trip as AfD leads polls

By Drooid · Sep 16, 2026, 10:39 AM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

Chancellor Friedrich Merz canceled his UN General Assembly trip to New York.
He stayed in Berlin because his presence was required amid election pressure.
Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul will deliver Germany’s UN address instead.
A Monday poll showed AfD at 30% nationwide and CDU at 20%, ten points behind.
Merz’s approval rating fell to about 10%, three points lower than the prior week.

History

Historical Context

On 24 September 2017 Germany held a federal election in which the Christian Democratic Union-CSU fell to 33 % and the previously unrepresented Alternative für Deutschland entered the Bundestag with 12.6 % of the vote—the first right-of-the-CDU party to win seats since 1957. That breakthrough has repeatedly forced senior German officials to prioritize domestic electoral concerns over international engagements.

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Story summary

Chancellor Friedrich Merz canceled his UN General Assembly trip to New York.
He stayed in Berlin because his presence was required amid election pressure.
Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul will deliver Germany’s UN address instead.
A Monday poll showed AfD at 30% nationwide and CDU at 20%, ten points behind.
Merz’s approval rating fell to about 10%, three points lower than the prior week.

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