They had offered the former German chancellor to head an advisory body made up of former heads of state with the aim of “identifying global public goods”
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel has turned down an advisory position at the United Nations that had been offered to her by the international body’s secretary general, the German political office has announced.
Merkel’s office has indicated that the former chancellor spoke with Guterres last week and thanked him for the offer, before telling him that she would not accept it. The UN Secretary General has not commented for now.
Hours earlier, the German news agency DPA had indicated that Guterres had offered Merkel to head an advisory body made up of former heads of state with the aim of “identifying global public goods and other areas of common interest where improvements in governance and propose options on how this could be achieved’.
This committee is one of Guterres’ main reform projects ahead of his second term, which began in January. Global public goods include issues such as applicable aviation safety and global trade regulations, as well as the state of the ozone layer.
Guterres has argued that the coronavirus pandemic has revealed significant gaps in international cooperation, so the committee he plans to launch seeks to give impetus to practices and principles for action at the international level.
Merkel, 67, did not stand in federal elections in September and retired from national politics at the end of the year after 16 years as chancellor of the European country, being succeeded by Olaf Scholz.
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