The award ceremony for the first recipients of the European Order of Merit takes place in Strasbourg

Brussels – The first recipients of the European Order of Merit were honoured today (19 May) at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, for their contribution to European integration and EU values at a ceremony at the European Parliament. Thirteen of the twenty recipients of the European Order of Merit attended the ceremony in the chamber, addressing the Parliament after receiving their awards from the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. Also present at the ceremony were members of the Order’s selection committee and the Cypriot Deputy Minister for European Affairs, Marilena Raouna, representing the Presidency of the Council of the EU. 

“Europe was not handed to us on a plate. It was built, treaty by treaty, crisis by crisis, by people who chose solidarity over division and cooperation over self-interest,” said President Metsola at the opening of the ceremony. “With the European Order of Merit, we pay tribute to those who, in every sphere of life, choose to build Europe: to those who have led in difficult times and continued to drive our Union forward. Because Europe only endures as long as each generation chooses to defend it,” she explained. 

Among the distinguished members of the Order present at the ceremony in Strasbourg were Angela Merkel, former Federal Chancellor of Germany, and Lech Wałęsa, former leader of Solidarność and former President of Poland. The honourable members present were Jerzy Buzek, former Prime Minister of Poland and former President of the European Parliament; Aníbal Cavaco Silva, former President and Prime Minister of Portugal; Pietro Parolin, Cardinal and Secretary of State of the Holy See; Maia Sandu, President of the Republic of Moldova; Wolfgang Schüssel, former Federal Chancellor of Austria; Javier Solana, former EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy; Jean-Claude Trichet, former President of the European Central Bank. Members of the Order present included Marc Gjidara, Professor Emeritus of Law; Sandra Lejniece, doctor, researcher and academic administrator; Oleksandra Matviichuk, human rights lawyer; Viviane Reding, former Vice-President of the European Commission, former Member of the Luxembourg Parliament and former MEP. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was also admitted to the Order as a distinguished member. Other honorary members include Valdas Adamkus, Sauli Niinistö, and Mary Robinson. José Andrés, founder of the NGO World Central Kitchen, Giánnis Antetokoúnmpo and the members of the band U2 (Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr.) were appointed members of the Order.