Russian dissident and activist Alexei Navalny, a group of eleven Afghan women activists and former Bolivian President Jeanine Áñez are still in the running for the 2021 Sakharov Prize after a joint vote by the European Parliament’s Committees on Foreign Affairs (AFET) and Development (DEVE), held in camera on Thursday 14 October.
Russia’s Alexei Navalny is supported by the EPP group and Renew Europe. The group of Afghan women, comprising eleven women activists, is proposed by the S&D and Greens/EFA groups. The conservative ECR group is supporting Jeanine Áñez.
Sahrawi human rights activist Sultana Khaya, supported by The Left, did not receive enough votes to be a finalist. The far-right group did not present a candidate this year (see EUROPE 12792/2).
The announcement was widely covered on social networks. MEPs Frédérique Ries (Renew Europe, Belgium) and Esther de Lange (EPP, Netherlands) welcomed, along with many other colleagues, retaining Mr Navalny. On the other hand, Mike Wallace (The Left, Ireland) regretted that whistle-blower Julian Assange was still not among the finalists and denounced the hypocrisy of the selection process.
On Thursday 21 October, the European Parliament’s Conference of Presidents (CoP) will decide on the prize winner alongside the Strasbourg plenary session. The award ceremony is scheduled for 15 December. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)