Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine, is welcomed by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD). © Wolfgang Kumm/dpa
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) will fly together to Aachen this Sunday to award the Charlemagne Prize to the head of state. Scholz confirmed this in the morning at a press conference with Zelensky in Berlin. Until now, for security reasons, it had remained unclear whether Zelensky himself would come to North Rhine-Westphalia for the award ceremony.
Berlin/Aachen - According to previous information, the award ceremony will begin at around 15:30 p.m. after a church service. Scholz will give the laudatory speech. Other speakers include EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
The prestigious prize will be awarded to Zelensky and the Ukrainian people for services to the unity of Europe. The explanatory statement emphasized Zelensky's role in repelling Russia's war of aggression: he was not only the president of his people and the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army. He is "also the motivator, communicator, the engine and the link between Ukraine and the great phalanx of supporters".
Last year, Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and two comrades-in-arms received the Charlemagne Prize. Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and Pope Francis are also award winners. Dpa