Karel Schwarzenberg awarded Robert Schuman Medal

Karel Schwarzenberg received the Robert Schuman Medal at the opening of the EPP Group Bureau meeting in Prague. He received the award for his endless struggle for peace, the construction of Europe and standing up for human values. He received the award on the eve of the International Day of Human Rights.

Karel Schwarzenberg fled Communist Czechoslovakia at a young age. The family ran away from persecution because of their aristocratic origins. In exile, he effortlessly helped the dissidents in the former Eastern bloc and was Chair of the International Helsinki Committee. Following the fall of the Iron Curtain, he helped build a new democratic foundation in the former Czechoslovakia and served under President Václav Havel as Chancellor of the Czech Republic. He was later active on the political scene in central Europe and worked on the reconciliation of the European nations and European unity. He is a firm human rights defender worldwide, which he proved as the long-standing Foreign Minister of the Czech Republic. He is an honorary Chairman of the TOP 09 Party.

“Karel Schwarzenberg is living proof that being a patriot and being a European is one and the same thing because security, freedom and prosperity for our people can only be sustainable in Europe through the European Union. His life struggle reflects what the EPP is all about: we want to preserve our national customs, cultures, traditions. And at the same time we want to deepen our co-operation at European level because only then can we make sure that we can deliver security, freedom and prosperity to our citizens. This is the first time the Schuman Medal has been given to a Czech politician”, said Manfred Weber MEP, Chairman of the EPP Group in the European Parliament.

"We need personalities like Karel Schwarzenberg who are not afraid of telling the truth and standing by it in difficult circumstances. We need personalities who, with courage and resolution, defend values of democracy and freedom. Without them, our society would face too many difficulties. Karel Schwazenberg is indeed such a personality! His influence and legacy reach over the border of the Czech Republic and I am happy that the Schuman Medal has been awarded to him, the first Czech politician”, said Luděk Niedermayer MEP, Head of the Czech Delegation of the EPP Group.