According to the 200,000 members of the biggest European youth organisations polled by the Heinz Schwarzkopf Foundation, “exemplary” politicians do exist. By a wide majority, they selected the Finnish foreign minister, Alexander Stubb, who was awarded the Schwarzkopf-Europa-Preis in Berlin on 3 October 2008 for representatives of a “new generation of European decision-makers”. The prize was launched in 2003, and the first prize-winner was Judge Carla Del Ponte. Forty-year-old Alexander Stubb proved his mettle during the negotiations between Russia and Georgia when he was the acting president of the OSCE. He has also been an excellent member of the European Parliament. Very active in the ALDE Group, he was a shining light in plenary, where his eloquent, pertinent comments, usually in impeccable English, stood out. (L.G./transl.fl)