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"Hungary's Ferenc Rákóczi II Foundation won the first ever Charlemagne Youth Prize for its "Students without Boundaries" project. It was one of three prizes awarded on 29 April to projects which were judged to have fostered a shared sense of European identity and cultural exchange. Second and third prizes went to the projects in the UK and Greece respectively. Parliament's President Hans-Gert Pöttering and André Leysen, Chair of the Charlemagne Prize Foundation, presented the prizes.
Hans Gert Pöttering,
president of the European Parliament and Katerina Batzeli welcome the
winners of the Charlemagne Youth Prize From the left: Lorenzo
Marsili (UK - 2nd winner); Emőke Korzenszky (Students
Without Boundaries program, - Hungary); Katerina Batzeli, chairwoman of the
Culture and Education Committee; Hans Gert Pöttering - president of the
European Parliament; Zoltán Csadi (Students Without Boundaries program, -
Slovakia); Paraskevi Christodoulopoulou (Greece, 3rd winner); Ilona Mikóczy
(Students Without Boundaries program, - Slovakia); Ágota Demeter (Students
Without Boundaries program, - Romania)
From the left: Ágota
Demeter, Pál Schmitt, Member of the European Parliament, European
People's Party and is vice-chair of the European Parliament's Committee on
Culture and Education and the representatives of the Students Without
Boundaries Program, Ilona Mikóczy, Zoltán Csadi From
the left: Zoltán Csadi, Ilona Mikóczy, Kinga Gál, Member of the European
Parliament, Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) and
European Democrats, vice chairwoman of the Committee on Civil
Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, Ágota Demeter
From
the left: Zoltán Csadi, Ilona Mikóczy, László Surján, Member of the
European Parliament, Group of the European People's Party (Christian
Democrats) and European Democrats; József Szájer Vice Chairman of the
Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) and European
Democrats; Ágota Demeter, Emőke Korzenszky Vidal Quadras -
vice president of the European Parliament with the representatives of the
three winning projects of the European Charlemagne Youth Prize: 1. prize -
Representatives of the Rakoczi Foundation, Students Without Boundaries with the Charlemagne Youth Prize in the plennary of the European Parliament. From
left - Ágota Demeter, Zoltán Csadi, Ilona Mikóczy
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The organizers of the Students Without Boundaries Program with a Statue of Rakoczi Ferenc
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"The Students without Boundaries" event takes place every
year in Hungary and brings together over 130 students from Slovakia,
Romania, Ukraine and Serbia. During their time there they discuss
education in Europe as well as cultural issues. The prize ceremony took
place at the University of Aachen in Germany and all three winners will be
invited to the European Parliament in June. Speaking at the ceremony Mr. Pöttering said that he was "so glad to see here all these young people from all parts of Europe presenting their ideas and projects full of a European 'feeling of belonging'. That there are more than 400 projects testifies once more that 'the flame of the idea' of the European Union still burns!" he said. About 400 projects entered the competition which is organised by the Parliament and the Charlemagne Foundation. The winners receive €5,000, €3,000 and €2,000, respectively. The three best projects were selected in two steps: firstly by national juries and one representative of a youth organization, then by a European jury consisting of three MEPs, the President of the EP and four representatives of the Foundation. On 1 May, the International Charlemagne Prize will also be awarded in Aachen. This year's recipient is the German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The Charlemagne Prize, one of the most prestigious European prizes, is awarded for outstanding contributions to the cause of European unification. (source: European Parliament News) |
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