Roberta METSOLA, EP President, announces the brave People of Ukraine, represented by their President, elected leaders and civil society as the 2022 laureate of the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, during the plenary session in Strasbourg. Each year, the European Parliament awards the Sakharov Prize to honour exceptional individuals and organisations defending human rights and fundamental freedoms.

EU - Ukraine (T)

plenary session

troubles in Ukraine (T)

METSOLA, Roberta (EPP, MT, EP President)

president's agenda

solidarity with Ukraine (T)

Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought 2022 (T)

Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought 2022: announcement of the laureate - The brave People of Ukraine, represented by their President, elected leaders and civil society as the 2022 laureate, by Roberta METSOLA, EP President

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, Dear colleagues, it is my privilege to announce that the 2022 to Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought has been awarded to the brave people of Ukraine represented by their president, elected leaders and civil society.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, It's also important for me to tell you that there was consensus within the Conference of Presidents on this choice. For the past nine months, the European Parliament and the world has seen Ukrainians heroically defending their country, their liberty, their homes, their families by the Ukrainian people are also risking their lives for Europe to safeguard the values that we all believe in freedom, democracy, the rule of law. There is no one more deserving of this prise. So this award is for those Ukrainians fighting on the ground, for those who have been forced to flee, for those who have lost relatives and friends, for all those who stand up and fight for who and what they believe. And I know that the brave people of Ukraine will not give up and neither will we.