"Long live Europe!": Von der Leyen honored with Charlemagne Prize
The Charlemagne Prize recognizes exceptional contributions to promoting European unification. This year's recipient is the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who calls for an independent Europe.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has been awarded the International Charlemagne Prize . At the award ceremony in Aachen City Hall, she advocated for a self-confident and independent Europe . "I know this message sounds scary to many. But at its core, this is about our freedom," said the German Christian Democrat.
Von der Leyen warned against falling into the fallacy that things would return to the way they were before. Because "it won't happen that way," the award winner explained. The world is once again shaped by imperial powers and imperial wars, "by great powers that are prepared to use all means, fair and unfair, to gain an advantage."
She further stated that "a new international order will emerge within this decade." This order must be shaped by Europe. Von der Leyen concluded her more than half-hour-long remarks with the cry: "Long live Europe!"
In Aachen, Chancellor Friedrich Merz spoke out in favor of strengthening and defending Europe . Europe has been successful as a peace project internally, the German head of government said, alluding to past wars in Europe. Now Europe must also become a peace project externally. According to Merz, this includes the historic task of making Europe so strong that it can restore peace on the continent and permanently secure freedom. The Chancellor also reiterated Germany's willingness "to move forward with all determination in this task."
In his speech, Spain's King Felipe VI warned against nationalist tendencies that are creating fear of Europe. European countries must not "retreat into national borders," he emphasized. In light of the Russian attack on Ukraine, this applies to defense, but also to issues of economic cooperation and politics. Europe can only be powerful if it stands together, the monarch stated.
The Charlemagne Prize has been awarded in Aachen for 75 years and is named after Charlemagne (747/748-814), who is considered the pioneer of a united Europe and was called the "Father of Europe" even during his lifetime.
Previous winners include then-German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer in 1954 and former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill a year later. The last German to be honored with the Charlemagne Prize was Martin Schulz, then President of the European Parliament, in 2015.
This year, for the first time, the award comes with a cash prize of one million euros. According to von der Leyen's wishes, the money will be used for projects benefiting Ukrainian children. The award winners and the Charlemagne Prize Board will decide jointly on the allocation of the prize money. The money was donated by a married couple of entrepreneurs from Aachen.
ch/pg (dpa, epd, kna)
dw
