The European Parliament was awarded the Freedom Prize of the Republic of Lithuania, and President Roberta Metsola the Grand Cross of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas.
At the award ceremony today in Vilnius, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola thanked the Seimas, the Lithuanian Parliament, for its decision to honour the European Parliament with the 2023 Freedom Prize.
President Metsola said in her keynote speech marking the Day of Defenders of Freedom:
“This award does the European Parliament a great honour. It will inspire us to continue our support of democracy. It will inspire us to stand up for Europe. Lithuania knows only too well what is at stake. Why we need Europe to stand up for our freedoms and our values. Why we must stand firmly for Ukraine. Why Europe must be the light that the world sees.”
The Freedom Prize of the Republic of Lithuania is awarded every year on 13 January, the Day of the Defenders of Freedom, to mark the events of 13 January 1991, when Soviet troops stormed the Lithuanian Parliament, the TV Tower, and the Lithuanian Radio and Television building, killing 11 peaceful citizens and injuring hundreds of others.
The Freedom Prize was established in 2011 to honour individuals and organisations for their achievements in and contribution to the defence of human rights, development of democracy, and promotion of international cooperation for the cause of self-determination and sovereignty of the nations in Central and Eastern Europe.
On 23 November 2023, the Seimas awarded the European Parliament and Petras Plumpa, a political prisoner and participant in the Lithuanian unarmed anti-Soviet resistance, with the 2023 Freedom Prize of the Republic of Lithuania.
The European Parliament received the Prize for its current efforts to consolidate democracy and human rights, for defending the right of nations to sovereignty, for its unrelenting efforts towards historical justice, for supporting the cause of Lithuania’s freedom and the aspiration of the Soviet-occupied Baltic States towards independence, for the diplomatic assistance to Lithuania that restored its independence, and for its contribution to EU integration. As far back as 1983, the European Parliament adopted a resolution condemning the Soviet Union’s occupation of the Baltic States.
President Metsola’s visit to Lithuania kicked off a series of visits to Member States to ‘Get out the vote’ in the run-up to the European elections on June 6-9. During her visits, the President meets with the country’s leadership and holds town hall discussions with young people and civil society representatives to highlight the importance of election participation and strengthening democracy.
On Friday, 12 January 2024, President of the Republic of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas to the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola “for her leadership and personal will to effectively consolidate strong support of the majority of the European Parliament’s political groups on key issues relevant to the European Union’s and Lithuania’s political agenda”.
President Metsola wholeheartedly thanked President Nauseda and the people of Lithuania for the prestigious award: “It serves as a constant reminder of our duty to defend democracy, freedom and our common European values.”
