VILNIUS — Due to the sudden resignation of the German president, Chancellor Angela Merkel canceled her state visit to Lithuania this week.

President Horst Köhler resigned Monday in light of controversial comments he made about the deployment of German troops overseas. Now Merkel’s bickering coalition must select a new candidate to fill in for Köhler until the next presidential election.

In Vilnius, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė will still have plenty of opportunities to meet other top European leaders attending the Baltic Development Forum this week as European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and the Norwegian and Finnish prime ministers will attend.

No replacement date for a Merkel visit to Lithuania has been given yet.

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