Kandić, Teršelič and Tokača, Schwarzkopf Europe Prize Winners

Nataša Kandić, the Executive Director of the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) was awarded the annual Schwarzkopf Europe Prize this year, along with Vesna Teršelič, the Leader of Documenta from Zagreb, and Mirsad Tokača, the Director of the Research and Documentation Centre from Sarajevo.

The three of them were received the award from the Heinz-Schwarzkopf Young Europe Foundation, which introduced the award for the first time in 2003 in order to honour institutions and individuals in public life who have made a significant contribution to promoting European integration, its peaceful and responsible role in the world, as well as serving European accord in a special way.

The annual winners of the prize are chosen by young Europeans. 200.000 young people from all over Europe were asked for nominations. In this way, young people can publicly acknowledge efforts of those who shape the future of Europe according to their wishes and ideals.

The Heinz-Schwarzkopf Foundation stated that Nataša Kandić, Vesna Teršelič, and Mirsad Tokača received the prize “for their tireless efforts for peace and understanding in South-Eastern Europe.”

“They contribute in an outstanding way to a stable future for the region. Their work raises our hope that the essential process of working-through the memories of the war in the Balkans in the ‘90s can be achieved. We honour three people who are committed to courageously expose the truth about the tremendous sorrow and injustice of the past”, said Tobias Bütow, the chairman of the Jury.

The prize will be awarded to the winners in a ceremony in Berlin in December 2009.

Previous recipients of the Schwarzkopf Europe Prize include Carla Del Ponte (former Chief Prosecutor of the Hague Tribunal), Navid Kermani (writer and Islamic academician), Dieter Kosslick (Director of the Berlin International Film Festival) and Aliaksandr Lahvinets (political activist from Belarus).