Helmut Kohl gets 'state funeral' EU

brussels - Helmut Kohl is the first person to become a 'state funeral' of the European Union. The tribute must take place within two weeks in the European Parliament in Strasbourg. It is an initiative of EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, who called the former Chancellor of the United States once 'the greatest European' he had ever met.

A spokesman for the commission said the details and the time of the ceremony should still be elaborated. The tribute is unprecedented. The EU is not a state and a mourning ceremony on behalf of the EU is nowhere in the European treaties. Juncker is personally involved with the organization and has contact with Kohl's family, so it sounded in the weekend near the committee chairman.

In Bild am Sonntag, Juncker said that the former Chancellor himself was also a farewell that would cross the national borders. He pointed out that Kohl was one of only three European citizens, in addition to Founder Jean Monnet and former Commission President Jacques Delors. 'Helmut Kohl filled the European house with life,' wrote Juncker on Friday. 'Without Helmut Kohl there had been no euro. '