Ukrainian President and people awarded Charlemagne Prize in Aachen

On 14 May, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the people of Ukraine were awarded the 2023 Charlemagne Prize for their fight to defend democracy against an unprovoked and unjustified war started by Russia. 

The International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen is the oldest and best-known prize awarded for work done in the service of European unification. The prize is named for Charlemagne, the Frankish king revered by his contemporaries as the ‘Father of Europe’. The prize was founded in 1950 by Kurt Pfeiffer in Aachen, Germany, and is now supported by the European Investment Bank.

Recent winners of the Charlemagne Prize include the Belarusian opposition leaders (2022), UN Secretary General António Guterres (2019), French President Emmanuel Macron (2018), and Pope Francis (2016).

This year’s award underscores the fact that Ukraine is part of Europe and that its people and government – headed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy – support and defend European values, and therefore deserve to enter swiftly into accession negotiations with the European Union, says a press release by the European Investment Bank.

“Ukraine incarnates everything the European idea is living for: the courage of convictions, the fight for values and freedom, the commitment to peace and unity. This is why I am convinced that Ukraine will prevail, it will win peace and make its European destiny come true,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in her speech at the ceremony in Aachen.

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Press release