THE under-pressure German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has cancelled a trip to the United Nations general assembly next week after a disastrous state election loss to the far right.

A government official said today that Chancellor Merz won’t travel to New York as originally planned because “his presence is required in Berlin.”

Mr Merz had been expected to speak at the general assembly next Wednesday.

Speculation has been mounting that Mr Merz’s job is in danger following a heavy defeat for his right-wing party by the far-right Alternative for Germany party in the September 6 election in the eastern region of Saxony-Anhalt. 

Two more regional elections follow on Sunday: one in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, another largely rural eastern state, and the other in Berlin, the capital.

The AfD is expected to make significant gains in both, though it has no realistic path to power in Berlin and faces a much stronger challenge from the current left-leaning governor in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania than it did from Mr Merz’s party in Saxony-Anhalt.

Mr Merz’s Christian Democratic Union could lose the mayor’s office in Berlin that it has held since 2023 and could fail for the first time to win seats in a state legislature anywhere by falling below 5 per cent of the vote in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.