The premier of the western German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, Malu Dreyer, announced her resignation on Wednesday. Dreyer, a Social Democrat who has led the state since 2013, said she would leave the post in July. The reason for her decision was not immediately clear, although there had been considerable speculation about her possible retirement. Her office said she would address her resignation at a 2pm (1200GMT) news conference. Dreyer’s resignation comes less than two weeks after her Social Democratic Party (SPD) suffered a major defeat in European Parliament elections, and also lost gro…