A videograb taken from footage issued by the German Chancellery (Bundeskanzleramt) on April 3, 2020 shows German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaking during a video podcast. (PHOTO / HANDOUT / BUNDESKANZLERAMT / AFP)

BERLIN - Angela Merkel’s chief of staff told German broadcasters RTL/n-tv on Monday that he did not think the chancellor’s plans not to run for a fifth term in office had changed after Bild newspaper last week raised the question of whether she might.

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“I don’t think this is any time to discuss something like that,” Helge Braun said. “She has said that this is her last term in office and I believe nothing has changed about that.”

Merkel has led Germany for 15 years and has said previously that she will not seek re-election in autumn 2021.