BERLIN (AP) — The head of the European Commission says he wants an official commemoration of former Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who led Germany to reunification and was a strong backer of the continent's unity.

Jean-Claude Juncker told Sunday's Bild am Sonntag newspaper that he will personally push for a "European act of state" for Kohl, who was chancellor from 1982 to 1998, but didn't give details. German authorities also have yet to give details of funeral arrangements.

Juncker said that "without Helmut Kohl, the euro would not exist." The former Luxembourg prime minister added that Kohl pushed for "us Europeans to get to know each other better and work more closely together."

Kohl died on Friday at his home in Ludwigshafen, in southwestern Germany. He was 87.