Photo: Alexei and Yulia Navalny
Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny (posthumously) and his widow will receive an award for “courage shown in the resistance movement,” for “brave and nonviolent struggle against brutal dictatorship in Russia.” The justification for the nomination states:"They – faces of a better, new, free and democratic Russia. They – resistance heroes of our time who are ready to sacrifice their lives for the betterment of our world.”.
The award will be accepted by Yulia Navalnaya personally on behalf of herself and her late husband. The ceremonial speech during the award ceremony will be made by the chairman of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU), Friedrich Merz, Radio Liberty reports.
The organizer of the annual political and economic summit – media group Weimer Media Group (WMG). "Media Freedom Award" founded by group publishers Christiane Goetz-Weimer and Wolfram Weimer. The award is given to public figures who have distinguished themselves in an extraordinary way in the fight for freedom of opinion, political dialogue and democracy.
In 2023, Garry Kasparov became the winner of the award. Previously, it was awarded to Vladimir Zelensky and Mikhail Gorbachev.
Along with the presentation of the prize, one of the important events of the summit every year is the discussion “arena” leaders of political parties in Germany.
This year, representatives of the right-wing populist party Alternative for Germany, the Left Party and the newly formed Sarah Wagenknecht Union are deliberately not invited to the event. The summit organizers stressed that they do not provide a stage for extremists, enemies of democracy and opponents of the European Union. "Ludwig Erhard Summit" – it is an open platform of a broad center,” – emphasized Christiane Goetz-Weimer and Wolfram Weimer on the eve of the summit.
BAGNET recalls that Alexei Navalny, according to Russian authorities, died in the Polar Wolf colony. in Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug on February 16. The conclusion about his death states that the politician died of natural causes. Navalny's supporters believe he was killed. During his imprisonment, he spent more than 300 days in a punishment cell.
Prepared by: Sergei Daga