08/02/2005 (Agence Europe) - During a sitting of the European Senate of Honour founded by Walter Kunnen (President of the Beweging voor de Verenigde Staten van Europa), on 6 February in Antwerp, the European Press Prize 2004 was awarded to Michael Stabenow, a correspondent for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in Brussels. His colleague, Peter Hort, praised the seriousness and competence with which, by rejecting all sensationalism, Michael Stabenow has for years covered the “continuous flow of” European construction. Former MEP Fernand Herman spoke on this occasion of the “hard battle” to ratify the European Constitution, considering that ratification by referendum is a “dangerous process” during which citizens do not really answer the question raised but rather the people who ask the questions. Herman, who is President of the Union of European Federalists-Belgium, also warned of the temptation to “look inwards”, expressing concern about the impulse of Polish MEPs to hold seats in the European Parliament not according to political groups but according to national delegations (as was the case thirty-five years ago!, he exclaimed). The Senate of Honour welcomed Achilleas Mitsos, Director General for Research at the European Commission, MEP Marianne Thyssen and Latvia's President, Vaira Vike-Freibgerga, within its ranks.