The awarding ceremony of the European Prize Coudenhove-Kalergi 2020 to the President of Romania, Mr. Klaus Iohannis
03 march 2020
President of Romania, Mr. Klaus Iohannis, will be awarded, on Wednesday, 4 March 2020, the European Prize Coudenhove-Kalergi 2020, during a ceremony that will take place at the Cotroceni Palace.
The award will be presented by His Serene Highness (HSH) Prince Nikolaus von Liechtenstein, President of the European Society Coudenhove-Kalergi.
The event will be attended by Mr. Donald Tusk, President of the European People’s Party and former President of the European Council, who will deliver the laudation.
The members of the European Society Coudenhove-Kalergi have decided to give the European Prize Coudenhove-Kalergi 2020 to the President of Romania for “his outstanding merits as a politician, who, through his dedication to European values, contributes decisively to the deeper integration of Romania into the community of European states”, taking into account, at the same time, that “his political action has an exemplary function for a formerly divided Europe.”.
The prestigious European Prize Coudenhove-Kalergi is awarded every two years to personalities who have significantly contributed to the project of a united and peaceful Europe. The award is conferred by the European Society Coudenhove-Kalergi, founded in 1978 in honour of “the great European visionary” Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi.
Count Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi (1894-1972) called for a united Europe shortly after the end of the First World War, as a response to the totalitarian ideas of fascism, national socialism and communism. In 1923, he founded the Paneuropean Movement, contributing through his ideas to the founding of the European institutions. Coudenhove-Kalergi was the first recipient of the Charlemagne Prize of Aachen, in 1950.
Among the European Prize Coudenhove-Kalergi laureates are prominent European and international leaders, who have made their mark on the history of the continent in the last half-century, such as: Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission (2014); Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council (2012); Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany (2010); Vaira Vīķe - Freiberga, President of Latvia (2006); renowned violinist Yehudi Menuhin (1999); Emil Constantinescu, President of Romania (1998); Lennart Meri, President of Estonia (1996); Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America (1992); Helmut Kohl, Chancellor of Germany (1990); Juan Carlos I, King of Spain (1986); Sandro Pertini, President of Italy (1984); Konstantinos Tsatsos, President of Greece (1980); Raymond Barre, Prime-minister of France (1978). In 2018, the Prize was awarded posthumously to the Heavenly Hundred, the Ukrainian heroes of the Euromaidan.