Chancellor's speech at the UN General Assembly and political pressure on Merz

The Chancellor's speech in the general debate at the UN General Assembly was scheduled by the United Nations for late afternoon on Wednesday - three days after the state elections in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Berlin. The elections are considered to be crucial for the Chancellor's political future.

There are sometimes fears in the CDU that the state party in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania could slip below the five percent threshold on Sunday. Critics within the party had demanded that Merz then resign. The trigger was the shock in the party over the poor performance in the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt on September 6th. Since then, Merz has been under massive pressure.

The top committees of the CDU meet on Monday, and the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag meets on Wednesday.

General debate every September

The general debate of the UN General Assembly takes place every year in September. Merz decided not to take part last year. Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (CDU) spoke for Germany instead. This will most likely be the case this year too.