Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel is among the first recipients of the European Parliament’s new European Order of Merit, President Roberta Metsola announced on Tuesday 11 March. She receives the Order’s highest honour jointly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and former trade union leader and Polish President Lech Wałęsa.
The winners were chosen by the Order’s Selection Committee, made up of President Metsola, Vice-Presidents Sophie Wilmès and Ewa Kopacz, as well as Michel Barnier, José Manuel Barroso, Josep Borrell and Enrico Letta.
Proposals for appointment come from the EU Heads of State or Government, as well as from the Presidents of the national parliaments and the European institutions (see EUROPE 13634/25).
The following have been appointed Honourable Members of the European Order of Merit: Valdas Adamkus, former President of Lithuania; Jerzy Buzek, former Prime Minister of Poland and former President of the European Parliament; Aníbal Cavaco Silva, former President and Prime Minister of Portugal; Sauli Niinistö, former President of Finland; Pietro Parolin, Cardinal and Secretary of State of the Holy See; Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; Maia Sandu, President of Moldova; Javier Solana, Former High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy; Wolfgang Schüssel, former Austrian Chancellor; Jean-Claude Trichet, former President of the ECB.
The following have been appointed Members of the European Order of Merit: José Andrés, president and founder of the NGO World Central Kitchen; Giannis Antetokounmpo, basketball player; Marc Gjidara, lawyer and academic; Sandra Lejniece, physicist; Oleksandra Matviichuk, human rights lawyer; Viviane Reding, former Vice-President of the European Commission; and musicians Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr., members of the group U2.
The winners will be invited to an official ceremony during the plenary session from 18 to 21 May in Strasbourg. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)