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Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė was awarded the Charlemagne Prize yesterday (9 May) in recognition to her contribution to European integration. The ceremony highlighted Lithuania’s pro-EU course as the country prepares to take over the rotating EU presidency on 1 July.

The 2012 winner was German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble.

“I want to dedicate this award to the people of Lithuania,” Grybauskaitė said at a ceremony in Aachen, Germany, which awards the annual prize.
Grybauskaitė was appointed EU budget commissioner in May 2004, after Lithuania’s accession to the EU. She returned home at the height of the sovereign debt crisis in 2009 to run for the presidency and led her country with rigorous austerity without asking for a rescue bailout plan.
This example, among others, was the reason why the Charlemagne Prize Board granted Grybauskaitė the award.
In her speech at the award ceremony, 57-year-old Grybauskaitė called for “fiscal responsibility” within the EU, and called on Europeans to overcome fear of the future.
EU Parliament President Martin Schulz, speaking at the ceremony, described the Lithuanian president as “an extraordinary European woman and an outstanding politician.” Grybauskaitė has distinguished herself by her “energy, efficiency and reliability,” he said.
Schulz said he was impressed by the dignity and determination of the Lithuanian people in light of the country’s recent economic hardships – a dramatic economic downturn in the last five years, reduction public spending by 20%, and pension cuts by 10%.
Grybauskaitė is the 55th winner of the prestigious prize. Launched in 1950, it commemorates Charlemagne, ruler of the Frankish empire and founder of the Holy Roman Empire, who is buried in the city’s cathedral.
In Berlin, Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle praised Grybauskaitė as “a committed European,” adding she stands “like no other for the consistent orientation of Lithuania to Europe.”
Grybauskaitė represents her country at all EU summits as head of state and is expected to play an important role when the country takes over the EU presidency in July.

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.