Angela Merkel turns down UN job after retiring as German chancellor

German ex-chancellor Angela Merkel has said no thanks to an offer of a job with the United Nations, her office says.

UN sources confirmed that Secretary General Antonio Guterres had asked Merkel to lead an advisory panel on a “common agenda” for governance after the pandemic that he set out late last year.

Merkel “spoke with the UN secretary general last week, thanked him and told him she would not be accepting the offer,” her office says in a statement, confirming media reports.

The 67-year-old Merkel left office last month and was succeeded by Social Democrat Olaf Scholz at the helm of a three-way coalition with the Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats. Despite feverish speculation as to what she might do next, Merkel remained tight-lipped, hinting only at a quiet life of books and sleep.