"European Prize for Political Culture 2024" for Applebaum and Sikorski
The Hans Ringier Foundation's "European Prize for Political Culture" will be awarded in 2024 to the married couple Anne Applebaum and Radosław Sikorski. Their commitment as a journalist and as foreign minister combine to form an impressive life's work for an open society.
Anne Applebaum and Radosław Sikorski received the Hans Ringier Foundation's "European Prize for Political Culture" in Ascona on Saturday. They are honoring "personalities who stand for the free democratic West with heart and soul, both journalistically and politically", according to a statement from the Hans Ringier Foundation. "The life's work of this extraordinary couple encompasses Western thought from the USA to Israel to Poland - the space of freedom from West to East. Anne Applebaum and Radosław Sikorski embody democracy and an open society, as well as the will to defend and promote these values. The two personalities deserve the thanks of all freedom-loving citizens for their journalistic and political work," commented Frank A. Meyer, President of the Hans Ringier Foundation, on the choice of this year's award winners.
Christian Lindner, German Federal Minister of Finance, paid tribute to the two prizewinners in his laudatory speech: "Anne Applebaum and Radosław Sikorski are shaping the debates of our time and therefore also the political culture in Europe. Authoritarian forces are currently seeking to undermine the liberal order with lies and even open violence. Applebaum and Sikorski derive ways of asserting freedom from their deep understanding of Soviet oppression at home and imperialism abroad. They are standard-bearers of the free world. For this, they deserve the European Prize for Political Culture 2024, our thanks and our great respect."
The award ceremony took place at the traditional "Dîner Républicain", which is held every year at the invitation of Frank A. Meyer at the "Castello del Sole" hotel in Ascona.
Endowed with 50,000 euros "European Prize for Political Culture" from the Hans Ringier Foundation is being awarded for the 18th time and has previously gone to Jean-Claude Juncker, Boris Tadić, Jürgen Habermas, Pascal Lamy, Jean-Claude Trichet, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, Donald Tusk, Wolfgang Schäuble, Heinrich August Winkler, Mario Draghi, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Margrethe Vestager, Sir Christopher Munro Clark, Zuzana Caputová, Peter Sloterdijk, Kaja Kallas and Alexei Nawalny.
