A special award
MEPs demand Charlemagne Prize for Zelenskyj
3/9/2022, 5:17 p.m
Ukrainian President Zelenskyi defends the country and fundamental values in the current situation with courage and bravura. MEPs now want to honor this contribution with a special presentation of the Karls Prize. More than a hundred MPs support the initiative.
In light of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, a group of MEPs have called for a special Charlemagne Prize to be awarded to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. A letter with the corresponding request to the Charlemagne Prize Directorate in Aachen had already been signed by 143 MPs, said the German Greens MP Daniel Freund.
Zelenskyy has brought Ukraine closer to European ideals and is now defending these values against the “most cowardly and unjustified military aggression in Europe since 1945,” the letter says. The Charlemagne Prize 2022 has already gone to opposition civil rights activists from Belarus, but in the current extraordinary situation, Zelenskyj’s contributions must be recognized quickly.
The chairman of the Charlemagne Prize Board of Directors, Jürgen Linden, said he had been informed about the initiative in advance. As soon as the corresponding letter has been received, the claim will be dealt with promptly. The Board of Directors with its 19 members then decides on this.
So far, an extraordinary Charlemagne Prize has only been awarded once: in 2004 to Pope John Paul II. The Charlemagne Prize has been awarded since 1950 for special services to European unity.