Vitaliy Klitschko, Mayor of Kyiv, has been named the winner of the prestigious Mayor Paweł Adamowicz Award, in recognition of his exceptional leadership in defending human rights and fundamental freedoms. The award will be officially presented at the Inaugural Plenary Session of the eighth term of office of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) in Brussels on 20 February 2025.
The jury also decided to award a special mention to Bassam Aramin and Rami Elhanan, Palestinian and Israeli community leaders working on reconciliation between the communities. Representatives of Parents Circle - Families Forum (PCFF), an organisation of Palestinian and Israeli parents who have lost children in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, were honoured for their joint commitment to peace and equality and their pursuit of non-violent solutions based on shared experience of grief, the loss of their daughters in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
The other shortlisted nominees were (in alphabetical order):
- Alain Chouraqui: founder of Camp des Milles, France. The Camp des Milles Memorial and Education Foundation has transformed a former internment camp into a Holocaust education and remembrance centre;
- Alexei Gorinov: Russian opposition leader at municipal level and human rights activist, currently imprisoned for opposing the Russian regime;
- Kamira: National Federation of Roma women associations, Spain. Kamira promotes social inclusion and fighting discrimination against Roma women. a national federation of Roma women's associations in Spain. It was founded in 1999 and comprises 23 associations across eight autonomous communities. The organisation focuses on promoting the freedom, solidarity and equality of the Roma community and also on promoting social integration and combating discrimination against Roma women;
- Andriy Sadovyi: Mayor of Lviv, Ukraine, recognised for his actions in support of the victims of war and the protection of human rights during Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The Legacy of Paweł Adamowicz
Paweł Adamowicz served as Mayor of Gdańsk from 1998 until his untimely death in 2019. His ground-breaking initiative, the Gdańsk 'Immigrant Integration Model,' launched in 2016 after meeting Pope Francis, remains a benchmark for fostering inclusion and solidarity. His tragic assassination highlighted the dangers of hate speech and the erosion of public discourse, sparking critical debates across Europe.
The upcoming ceremony in Brussels will not only honor Vitaliy Klitschko but also celebrate the enduring values and legacy of Paweł Adamowicz, inspiring leaders to build a more inclusive and tolerant Europe.
The Mayor Paweł Adamowicz Award is a joint initiative by the European Committee of the Regions, the City of Gdańsk, and the International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN). It recognizes individuals and leaders who embody the values Adamowicz championed: fighting against intolerance, radicalization, hate speech, and oppression, while promoting equality, social integration, and fundamental rights. The EPP-CoR Group strongly supported the establishment of this award, which pays tribute to Adamowicz's lasting influence as an advocate for democratic values and inclusive governance
For more on the life and work of Paweł Adamowicz, visit https://cor.europa.eu/en/plenaries-events/awards/mayor-pawel-adamowicz-award