Welcome address: Mike Schubert, Lord Mayor of the State Capital Potsdam
Keynote address: Olaf Scholz, Federal Chancellor Germany
Laudation: Dr Amy Gutmann, Ambassador of the United States in Germany, USA
Laudation: Donald Tusk, President of the Civic Platform, former President of the European Council, Poland
Acceptance speech: Dr Wladimir Klitschko, Former World Boxing Champion, Ukraine
The people of Ukraine, who for months have been standing with stoic fortitude and defending their freedom and sovereignty on European soil against Russia’s brutal invasion, have been honoured with the M100 Media Award 2022. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion Dr Wladimir Klitschko has been vocally calling on the international community to take a stand against the injustice of this war. He has accepted the award on behalf of his fellow citizens on 15 September 2022 at the Sanssouci Orangery in Potsdam.
The laudatory speeches were given by the American Ambassador to Germany, Dr Amy Gutmann, and the Chairman of the Civic Platform and former Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The political keynote speech at the award ceremony was delivered by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Dr Wladimir Klitschko is one of the most prominent and influential voices in Ukraine. He gave up his life as a successful entrepreneur and coach in Germany at the beginning of the Russian invasion and has been fighting for independence, democracy and freedom in his home country ever since. Uses his international contacts to tirelessly lobby political and business leaders worldwide to support Ukraine. Stands by his people together with his brother Vitali, mayor of Kyiv, who was awarded the M100 Media Award in 2014 as the representative of all democratic movements in Ukraine. “We will defend ourselves with all our strength and fight for freedom and democracy,” said Vladimir Klitschko. “We will fight as long as we live.”
“With heroic courage and indomitable will, the people of Ukraine have been defending themselves for months against Russia’s brutal invasion,” the M100 Advisory Board, chaired by Potsdam’s Lord Mayor Mike Schubert, emphasize. “No nation in the world has demonstrated the value of freedom and its fragile vulnerability as passionately as Ukraine in recent months. The country is fighting a heroic battle for its values: independence and freedom. And defends them day after day, hour after hour under deadly fire. What we take for granted, Ukrainians have been trying to preserve for themselves at the risk of their lives for months. A people that has become one nation in its darkest hours and strives for democracy in its hardest times. Their suffering is not debatable. It is a war against democracy, freedom and our value system. The people of Ukraine deserve our deepest respect, esteem, support and solidarity. They are fighting for us, too.”
