The European Medal of Tolerance
The purpose of the Prize is to honor and reward extraordinary creative achievements in the promotion of tolerance and/or reconciliation. The ultimate aim is to draw attention to successful undertakings that may serve as models for others in the field of tolerance, peace-building and reconciliation. The prize thus recognizes effectiveness as well as vision; impact assessment is a part of the nomination and evaluation process.
This Prize is dedicated to effective implementation of the Principles of Tolerance in both public and private spheres, in particular in the policy making process, legislative action on the national and regional level, and law enforcement activities as well as in the arts, education, culture, science and communication.
The initiative to create the Medal of Tolerance was presented in the European Parliament on November 11, 2008 in the context of the Week of Tolerance in Europe; the Recipient / Recipients is (are) announced usually by the ECTR on the 16th November, the UNESCO International Day for Tolerance. The Prize is in form of a gold 'European Medal of Tolerance' presented to the recipient as a concrete and lasting token of the award.
The first recipient of the 'European Medal of Tolerance' was His Majesty Juan Carlos I, the King of Spain.
The second recipients were the President of Croatia Ivo Josipović and the former President of Serbia Boris Tadić.
The Prize is to be awarded to persons, groups of persons, non-governmental, governmental and intergovernmental organizations and institutions for exceptional contributions to, and leadership in, the promotion of tolerance and reconciliation on the European continent, the fight against the most odious forms of intolerance such as xenophobia, anti-Semitism, aggressive nationalism, political extremism and racially-motivated hate crime.
The Prize may also be awarded to the families of outstanding individuals who have lost their lives in the struggle against intolerance.
The recipients of the Prize are chosen by decision of the ECTR Board, based on incoming nominations.
Call for Nominations
The ECTR welcomes nominations from governmental and non-governmental institutions, members of Parliament and consultancy bodies, distinguished political, social and religious leaders, members of academic institutions and civic organizations.
The nomination should include:
- the name, title and academic or professional affiliation of the nominator,
- the name of the candidate,
- an explanation of why the individual or organization is considered by the nominator to be a worthy candidate for the European Medal of Tolerance.
The ECTR welcomes nominations fulfilling the above criteria at the e-mail: EMT[at]ectr.eu
There is no deadline for the nominations, which are accepted all year long.