Sunday

28th May 2023

Lithuanian President dubbed 'extraordinary European'

  • Dalia Grybauskaite was EU budget commissioner until 2009 (Photo: Office of the Lithuanian President)

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite on Thursday (9 May) was awarded the Charlemagne Prize for her "oustanding" merits in European politics, just as her country prepares to take over the rotating EU presidency on 1 July.

Coinciding with Europe Day, the award ceremony took place in the German city of Aachen and was dubbed the "EU Oscar" by Lithuanian media.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

It was attended by top EU officials such as council chief Herman Van Rompuy and European Parliament chief Martin Schulz, as well as German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble who won the prize last year.

Grybauskaite, 57 years old, is a former EU budget commissioner and minister of finance in her country before being elected the first female president of Lithuania, in 2009.

She has a black belt in judo and has been nicknamed the "Iron lady" for her tough negotiating style and the harsh austerity measures her government imposed to get Lithuania out of the economic crisis, without external assistance.

European Parliament chief Martin Schulz said Grybauskaite is "an extraordinary European woman and an outstanding politician."

Schulz, a Social-Democrat, admitted that he and Grybauskaite are "far from seeing eye to eye on all political ideas, particularly on the policy of one-sided budgetary austerity." But he said he "greatly respects" the Baltic politician for being "courageous and straightforward."

"If we had more people in leading positions in Europe with such courage, we would have significantly fewer problems in the EU," Schulz said.

For her part, Grybauskaite dedicated the prize to the Lithuanian people in recognition of decades of hardship - including the fight for independence from the Soviet rule and overcoming the economic crisis.

She made an appeal for Europe to continue with "responsible fiscal policy" but also insisted on social measures.

"Today Europe will not be able to continue without responsible social decisions. Lithuania recovered from the global economic crisis not only by introducing financial discipline, but also by reaching social consensus," Grybauskaite said.

"Fiscal policies cannot ignore the most vulnerable if people’s trust is to be maintained ... We have to invest today so that disappointment does not become the guiding principle for Europe," she added.

Often compared to Chancellor Angela Merkel, who also won the Charlemagne Prize in 2008, Grybauskaite praised Germany for its leadership on European level.

"Today Germany plays the leading role in ensuring European stability and does not allow us to wander from the path of trust in Europe. That is why it is Germany which gets the strongest criticism – and also our deepest respect," she said.

Handed out every year since 1950 to individuals and institutions for their pro-European policies, the Charlemagne prize was only awarded to four other women before Grybauskaite: Merkel, Dutch Queen Beatrix, Norway's long-serving Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland and Simone Veil, the first female President of the European Parliament.

Lithuania unveils EU presidency logo

With less than two months to go before taking over the rotating EU presidency on 1 July, Lithuania has unveiled the logo that will brand its EU meetings.

Lithuania: In the EU spotlight

Lithuania takes over the EU presidency on 1 July. EUobserver talks to the country's leading politicians about its austerity policy, its euro plans and relations with eastern neighbours.

MEPs to urge block on Hungary taking EU presidency in 2024

"This will be the first time a member state that is under the Article 7 procedure will take over the rotating presidency of the council," French Green MEP Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield, the key lawmaker on Hungary, warned.

European Parliament scales back luxury MEP pension fund

The European Parliament's Bureau, a political body composed of the president and its vice-presidents, decided to slash payouts from the fund by 50 percent, freeze automatic indexations, and increase the pension age from 65 to 67.

Column

What a Spanish novelist can teach us about communality

In a world where cultural clashes and sectarianism seems to be on the increase, Spanish novelist Javier Cercas (b.1962) takes the opposite approach. He cherishes both life in the big city and in the countryside.

Opinion

Poland and Hungary's ugly divorce over Ukraine

What started in 2015 as a 'friends-with-benefits' relationship between Viktor Orbán and Jarosław Kaczyński, for Hungary and Poland, is ending in disgust and enmity — which will not be overcome until both leaders leave.

Latest News

  1. How the EU's money for waste went to waste in Lebanon
  2. EU criminal complicity in Libya needs recognition, says expert
  3. Europe's missing mails
  4. MEPs to urge block on Hungary taking EU presidency in 2024
  5. PFAS 'forever chemicals' cost society €16 trillion a year
  6. EU will 'react as appropriate' to Russian nukes in Belarus
  7. The EU needs to foster tech — not just regulate it
  8. EU: national energy price-spike measures should end this year

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  2. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  3. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics
  6. EFBWWEFBWW calls for the EC to stop exploitation in subcontracting chains

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. InformaConnecting Expert Industry-Leaders, Top Suppliers, and Inquiring Buyers all in one space - visit Battery Show Europe.
  2. EFBWWEFBWW and FIEC do not agree to any exemptions to mandatory prior notifications in construction
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic and Baltic ways to prevent gender-based violence
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Economic gender equality now! Nordic ways to close the pension gap
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Pushing back the push-back - Nordic solutions to online gender-based violence
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: The Nordics are ready to push for gender equality

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us