Charlemagne Prize for President Zelenskyj and the Ukrainian people

Created: 2022-12-16, 4:28 p.m

The Charlemagne Prize 2023 goes to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people.

© Federico Gambarini/dpa

Chancellors, kings and presidents have already received the International Charlemagne Prize in Aachen.

Now the award for services to Europe goes to a people at war - and their president.

Aachen - The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj and the Ukrainian people receive the Charlemagne Prize 2023 for services to Europe.

This was announced by the Charlemagne Prize Directorate and the city of Aachen.

The reason given was that the Ukrainian people under Zelenskyy's leadership not only defended the sovereignty of their country and the lives of its citizens, "but also Europe and European values".

The award emphasizes that Ukraine is part of Europe.

The population and government officials deserve "the encouragement" to "rapidly conduct accession negotiations with the European Union".

Prize honors services to Europe and European unification

The prize has been awarded since 1950 for services to Europe and European unification.

It is named after Charlemagne (747/748-814).

His empire extended over a large part of Western Europe, he often resided in Aachen.

The award comes with a medal and a certificate.

there is no money.

Previous winners have included ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and French President Emmanuel Macron.

Pope Francis has also received it.

In 2022, the Belarusian civil rights activist Svetlana Tichanovskaya and two fellow campaigners received it.

Ukrainian people just honored with Sakharov Prize

The Ukrainian people were only awarded the prestigious Sakharov Prize by the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday.

Three Ukrainians who are committed to civil society accepted the award there on behalf of their compatriots.

Since February 24, Russia has been waging a war of aggression against Ukraine, which is fighting for its existence with Western weapons.

How exactly the Charlemagne Prize will be presented in 2023 is still unclear.

Already at the Charlemagne Prize 2022 there was a discussion about whether Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people should get a "special Charlemagne Prize".

A group of MEPs suggested that at the time.

The EU states officially named Ukraine as a candidate for EU membership in June.

However, accession negotiations are only to begin once the reform requirements have been met.

dpa