The President of the European Parliament (EP), Roberta Metsolová, presented the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought for 2024 to the leaders of the democratic opposition from Venezuela, María Corina Machado and Edmund González Urrutia, at a Tuesday ceremony at the EP headquarters in Strasbourg, TASR reports.
“Your courage in the fight for Venezuelan democracy is inspiring. Your efforts remind us that it is up to each of us to fight for democracy. Because freedom must win everywhere and always,” said Metsolová towards the laureates.
Urrutia was recognized as a legitimate and democratically elected president
Urrutia, who was recognized by the European Parliament (EP) as the legitimate and democratically elected president of Venezuela, personally attended the ceremony. He left the country in September after an arrest warrant was issued for him.
In his acceptance speech, Urrutia also paid tribute to previous laureates, mentioning, for example, Alexander Dubček or the poor Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Ana Corina Sosová, Machado’s daughter, also took part in the award ceremony in Strasbourg. The leader of the Venezuelan opposition addressed the MEPs via video call. “We know we will win…Venezuela will be free,” she declared at the end, after which most of the MEPs gave a standing ovation.
The award was decided at the end of October by the Conference of Presidents of the EP, consisting of the head of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, and the leaders of the political groups. Women’s organizations from Israel and Palestine calling for peace and cooperation and human rights activist Gubad Ibadoghlu from Azerbaijan were also finalists for the Sakharov Prize.
The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, named after the Soviet physicist and political dissident Andrei Sakharov, is the European Union’s highest honor in the field of human rights.
The EP awards the award to individuals or organizations every year since 1988 in recognition of their work in one of these areas – the defense of human rights and fundamental rights, especially freedom of expression, the protection of minority rights, respect for international law, the development of democracy and the defense of the rule of law.
In previous years, for example, Žíná Mahsá Aminíová and the Iranian movement Woman, Life, Freedom (2023), residents of Ukraine resisting the Russian invasion (2022) and Alexei Navalny (2021) received this award.
