BRUSSELS, June 17. /TASS/. Euroepean politcians, experts and public personalities continues commenting on Friday on the significance of the role played in European affairs by the late German former Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl.
Without Helmut Kohl in the poition of Germany's Federal Chancellor, there would be no euro today and the EU would never get its contemporary contours, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said.
The news about the death of the former Chancellor, who was Juncker's close friend became a telling blow, Juncker said adding that the Europeans would miss the man as a genuine friend of European unity.
"Helmut Kohl was a great European and a very good friend," Juncker said, adding that the former was an objective observation while the latter was a very personal statement. As a politician he was able to bring politics closer to the people because he was also someone for whom words and political action were one and the same.
"He was someone who supported me, was kind and had an ability to see into other people's lives," Juncker said. "Moreover, he could view the world in a non-partisan way. And he had a great deal of humour."
As a politician, Kohl was able to bring politics closer to the people "because he was also someone for whom words and political action were one and the same."
Juncker recalled that only three people have been bestowed Honorary Citizenship of Europe Jean Monnet, Jacques Delors and Helmut Kohl.
"For me, that says everything," he said. "But it also makes our loss that much greater, both politically and on a human level.".