Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy receives the
International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen 2023 in person on behalf of the
Ukrainian people.
In his speech, Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned Russia's
President Vladimir Putin, saying that Putin is a synonym for aggression.
"World leaders spent hours talking to Putin to avert
this catastrophe. But Putin chose a disaster. Putin is the disaster. Putin is
the aggression. His formula has become death. How do you talk to him?"
Zelenskyy said after he received the Charlemagne Prize.
The Charlemagne Prize is awarded for work done in the service
of European unification. It has been awarded since 1950 by the German city of
Aachen. It commemorates Charlemagne, ruler of the Frankish Empire, revered by
his contemporaries as the “Father of Europe.”
“By awarding the Charlemagne Prize 2023 to both the president
and the people, the Board of Directors of the Society for the Conferring of the
International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen underscores the fact that Ukraine is
part of Europe and that its population and its government representatives –
headed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy – support and defend European values,
and therefore deserve this encouragement to enter swiftly into accession
negotiations with the European Union,” the statement by the board of directors
of the prize said on Friday, 14 May 2023.
Recent winners of the Charlemagne Prize include the
Belarusian opposition leaders (2022), Klaus Iohannis (2020/21), António
Guterres (2019), Emmanuel Macron (2018), Timothy Garton Ash (2017), and Pope
Francis (2016).
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