Merkel rejects speculation about shaking: 'Just as this reaction occurred it will go away again'

German chancellor responds to questions about her health at G20 Summit

Angela Merkel has sought to calm fears about her health by suggesting that her bouts of shaking at public events were only temporary.

“I’m convinced, just as this reaction occurred it will go away again,” the German chancellor said in response to questions at the end of the G20 Summit in Japan.

After being filmed shaking at two public events in space of 10 days, Ms Merkel said she understood the public curiosity but insisted: “I’m fine.”

The chancellor was first seen shaking when she met the visiting Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky on 18 June.

When questioned by reporters after the reception, she said: “Since then I’ve drunk at least three glasses of water, which I apparently needed, and now I’m doing very well.”

Speculation increased when Ms Merkel appeared unsteady at a ceremony in Berlin on Thursday.

Footage showed her crossing her arms as if to brace herself while attending a farewell ceremony for justice minister Katarina Barley, who is joining the European Parliament. She declined the offer of a glass of water.

However her spokesman Steffen Seibert said she was “well” and was going ahead with the G20 trip as planned.

At the end of the summit Ms Merkel welcomed the continued commitment of 19 out of the 20 countries to the Paris climate agreement, with only Donald Trump dissenting for the US.

She told reporters that ”this process cannot be turned around” and that some leaders indicated they were also willing to aim for “net zero” emissions by 2050.

Ms Merkel came to power in 2005, when George W Bush was president and Tony Blair was UK prime minister.

In October she announced that she would step down as Germany’s head of government when her fourth term runs out in 2021.

Additional reporting by Associated Press