The former prime minister of Luxembourg Jean-Claude Juncker has been given a boost in his campaign to become the next president of the European Commission after German Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged her support for him.

Until her comments at a Catholic conference in the Bavarian city of Regensburg, Merkel had remained tight-lipped on the issue.

“It turns out that the European People’s Party with their top candidate Jean-Claude Juncker has become the strongest political force, and therefore he should become the president of the European Commission,” said Angela Merkel.

Juncker’s European People’s Party didn’t manage to win a majority in the elections and in order to become the president of the European Commission he needs the support of other political groups.

His main rival is the president of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, who is also a member of the Social Democrats, the partners in the grand coalition government that Merkel leads in Germany.