German Chancellor Angela Merkel to be awarded the European Civil Rights Prize of the Sinti and Roma online at 14:30 TODAY

The European Civil Rights Prize of the Sinti and Roma will be awarded this year to German Chancellor Angela Merkel by the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma together with the Manfred Lautenschläger Foundation. A speech will be given on this occasion by Andrej Kiska, the former President of Slovakia who won the award in 2019. 

News server Romea.cz was informed of the award by Marius Lüdicke of the Central Council of Sinti and Roma. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ceremony will be held online only and ROMEA TV will be livestreaming it at 14:30. 

Merkel is being given the award because, after taking office for the first time in 2005, she has constantly advocated for more awareness of minority rights and, on various occasions, has commemorated the Holocaust against the Sinti and Roma in Europe during the Second World War. "The German Chancellor has taken up Germany's historical responsibility, especially against the background of the Nazi crimes during the Holocaust against the European Sinti and Roma, and has based her political steps on that responsibility," said Romani Rose, the chair of the Central Council of Sinti and Roma.

"Her policies have strengthened and brought to life the Framework Convention on the Protection of National Minorities, ratified in 1997, which is an important instrument of protection and support for Sinti and Roma as indigenous minorities," Rose said, adding that Merkel is greatly appreciated by many members of minority groups as a symbol of a democratic, open Europe. The European Civil Rights Prize of the Sinti and Roma is awarded by the Central Council of Sinti and Roma in Germany in appreciation of individuals and institutions that speak up in favor of protecting the civil rights of the Sinti and Roma.