Germany Charlemagne Prize for Ursula von der Leyen - The "Voice of Europe"
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will be awarded the Charlemagne Prize 2025 as the "strong voice of Europe in the world". At a time of epochal challenges, in which the European Union is threatened from the outside by Russia's war of aggression and from the inside by racists and demagogues, she is powerfully defending Europe's interests, the Charlemagne Prize Board of Directors explained its decision.
15.01.2025, 12:57
SDA
It cited von der Leyen's containment of the coronavirus pandemic, her united and decisive stance against Russia and the impetus behind the "Green Deal", which aims to make the EU climate-neutral by 2050, as particular achievements. The International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen is considered the most important award for services to European unification.
Von der Leyen, 66, has been President of the European Commission in Brussels since 2019. After the European elections last June, in which her center-right EPP alliance received the most votes, she was confirmed for her second term in office. Before moving to Brussels, the CDU politician spent six years as Federal Minister of Defense.
Charlemagne Prize Board of Directors sounds the alarm
In its citation, the Charlemagne Prize Board of Directors paints a picture of a threatened Union. "The European model of freedom, peace, democracy and prosperity is under threat," the 19 members of the Board of Directors state in their text. "The world order is changing and Europe must act. Ursula von der Leyen is the person entrusted with this strategic task for the European Union and the person who will master it." She has played a key role in ensuring that the EU has faced crises of epochal proportions "united and successfully".
After the European elections last June, she had succeeded in uniting large sections of the political center behind her and establishing a clear pro-European majority. "Thanks to von der Leyen and her skillful diplomatic actions, Europe has been able to push opponents, doubters and sceptics into the minority."
The Charlemagne Prize was founded shortly after the Second World War by citizens of Aachen at the suggestion of entrepreneur Kurt Pfeiffer. It is named after Emperor Charlemagne, whose Frankish empire extended over large parts of Western Europe in the early Middle Ages and who is therefore sometimes referred to as the "Father of Europe".
The first winners included Adenauer and Churchill
Among the first recipients were German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer (1954) and former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (1955), who campaigned for a "United States of Europe" after the end of the war. Von der Leyen's predecessor as Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker, was also honored, albeit as Luxembourg's head of government in 2006.
The last head of the Commission to receive the prize was Jacques Delors in 1992, who is considered to have completed the European single market and paved the way for the euro. It is therefore rather rare for a head of the Commission to receive the prize. The last German to be honored with the Charlemagne Prize was the then President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz (SPD), in 2015. The prize is traditionally presented on Ascension Day. This year, the prize is endowed with one million euros for the first time. According to the founders - a couple from Aachen - the money is to be used for pro-European projects.
