European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen won a top prize for European unification, the award’s board of directors said Wednesday.
Von der Leyen is set to receive the International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen, named after the Frankish king Charlemagne, who united most of Western and Central Europe under the Holy Roman Empire in the 9th century.
The Commission chief received the prize for “her services to the unity of the Member States, in the containment of the pandemic, for the unity of the Union’s determination to defend itself against Russia — and for the impetus towards the Green Deal,” the award’s board of directors said.
“She personifies Europe. She is the powerful voice of Europe on the world’s stage. She is the one with the strength to represent the interests of Europe and its allies in these historic times,” they added.
Von der Leyen, who was selected for a second term as Commission president in 2024, is not without her detractors.
She has been criticized for her top-down leadership style and lack of transparency, giving few one-on-one interviews and often keeping her press conferences short. Her team also recently declined to reveal she had been hospitalized with pneumonia until after she had returned home, sparking frustration among the Brussels press pool.
Past recipients of the prize — first awarded in 1950, with a ceremony typically taking place on Ascension Day in Aachen — include former U.S. President Bill Clinton, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and former German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
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