Few world leaders would miss a stage like the United Nations General Assembly. Donald Trump, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Emmanuel Macron are among those in New York for the 81st session of the UN General Assembly — or UNGA81 for short — where the speeches from the green marble lectern make headlines around the globe. That makes the no-shows all the more surprising.
Here is a look at some of the leaders staying away — and why. The German chancellor, in his second year in office, would like to be much more present on the international stage and has described himself as a "foreign-policy chancellor." But domestic politics have been keeping him busy. Three German states held parliamentary elections in September and Friedrich Merz is under more pressure as chancellor and leader of the Christian Democrats (CDU) than ever before.
In Saxony-Anhalt and Berlin, the CDU was firmly voted out of office, while in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern it failed to enter the state parliament at all — a first since the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany. Merz is in crisis-management mode at home and seems to want to prevent his opponents from planning a revolt in his absence. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul will speak in his place.
Italy's prime minister is in a considerably stronger position than Merz but has said she needs to deal with domestic matters this week. After the NATO summit in early July, Giorgia Meloni said she had just returned from several international summits and had to tackle various issues, including some pending within Italy. She pointed out that Merz had also been absent in 2025 - she too is sending her foreign minister, Antonio Tajani.
The South African president has also just attended an international summit — the BRICS summit in India. He said he would not attend the UN General Assembly for health reasons: medics advised him to take time to rest and recover. His office did not disclose details about his condition.
South Africa will also be represented at the UN lectern by Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola. Along with Africa's largest economy, the second- and third-largest economies on the continent are also not sending their presidents to New York: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is being represented by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly. Al-Sisi's office did not give a reason for his absence.
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