Germany's former Chancellor Merkel and Poland's former president and dissident Walesa are being honored in person on site by today's European leaders.
"Today we gather in the European Parliament to say thank you. We honour those who have chosen to build Europe," says Speaker Roberta Metsola at the ceremony in the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
The European Order of Merit is a completely new award, being given for the first time to a total of 23 people considered to have made great contributions to the EU and Europe. There is no Swede among the medalists yet – but there are, among others, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Finnish ex-president Sauli Niinistö and Greek basketball star Giannis Antetokounmpo.
