German Chancellor Angela Merkel continues to support French President Nicolas Sarkozy's re-election bid but has no plans to travel to France to campaign for him before a second round runoff next month, a German government spokesman said.

"As far as campaign appearances go, I am not aware of any plans. This is President Sarkozy's election campaign, not that of the German chancellor," deputy spokesman Georg Streiter told a regular news conference on Monday.

"The chancellor continues to support President Sarkozy," he added, noting that German and French leaders had worked well together in the post-war period regardless of who was in power.

Back in January, Merkel's conservative party announced that she would "actively support" Sarkozy's re-election campaign and that the two were planning several joint appearances. But in the run-up to the first round vote, Sarkozy shifted the focus of his campaign, de-emphasising ties with Berlin in favour of more populist themes like immigration and security.

[Reuters]