The Atlantic Council Freedom Awards

About Freedom Awards

The Atlantic Council Freedom Awards recognize extraordinary individuals and organizations that defend and advance the cause of freedom around the world. Inaugurated in Berlin on the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall, the 2009 Freedom Awards recognized the efforts of the American, German, Polish, Czech and Slovak, as well as the allied troops of NATO, to bring about a peaceful end to the Cold War. In 2010, on the 30th anniversary of Solidarity’s founding, Wrocław, Poland became the permanent European home of the Freedom Awards in recognition of Poland’s unique role in spreading the message of solidarity and freedom globally. Each year the awards celebrate past triumphs of freedom, but also those who continue the struggle today.

Previous Freedom Awardees

2016: 
Fr. Maciej Zięba, Polish philosopher, writer, and theologian
Horst Teltschik, Former National Security Advisor, Federal Republic of Germany
Nighat Dad, Executive Director, Digital Rights Foundation, Pakistan
Syria Civil Defence, “The White Helmets”

2015:
Carl Bildt, former Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden
Donetsk National University
Agnieszka Holland, Polish film director
Boris Nemtsov, Russian Statesman, Physicist, and Politician (posthumous)
Nadiya Savchenko, first Ukrainian female military pilot (award presented in absentia)

2014:
• Toomas Hendrik Ilves, President of Estonia
• Miklós Németh, former Prime Minister of Hungary
• The Polish-American Freedom Foundation, represented by Jerzy Kozminski and Zbigniew Brzezinski
• People of the Maidan, represented by Ruslana and Kateryna Kruk

2013:
• Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani activist (award presented in absentia)
• Tadeusz Mazowiecki, former Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland
• European Humanities University of Belarus
• Diplomat for Freedom Award: Mark Palmer, former US Ambassador to Hungary (posthumous)

2012:
• Władysław Bartoszewski, Chairman, International Auschwitz Council
• The National Endowment for Democracy, Represented by NED President Carl Gershman
• Emma Bonino, Vice President of the Italian Senate and Trustee of the Arab Democracy Foundation
• Moncef Marzouki, President of Tunisia on behalf of the people of Tunisia (award presented in absentia)

2011:
• John McCain, US Senator
• Radosław Sikorski, Foreign Minister of Poland, on behalf of the Polish people
• Vladimir Filat, Prime Minister of Moldova, on behalf of the Moldovan people
• Adam Michnik and Helena Łuczywo, Gazeta Wyborcza
• Belarus Free Theater, the Human Rights Center “Viasna,” and the Belarusian Association of Journalists, on behalf of the Belarusian people
• Esraa Abdel Fattah, on behalf of Egypt’s young generation
• Ron Asmus, former US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs (posthumous award)

2010:
• Jerzy Buzek, President of the European Parliament
• Aleksander Kwaśniewski, former President of Poland
• Javier Solana, former NATO Secretary General and EU High Representative
• The Ladies in White/Las Damas de Blanco

2009:
• Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State, on behalf of the American people
• Guido Westerwelle, Vice-Chancellor of Germany, on behalf of the German people
• Lech Wałęsa, former President of Poland, on behalf of the Polish people
• Václav Havel, former President of Czechoslovakia, on behalf of the Czech and Slovak people
• James Stavridis, Supreme Allied Commander Europe, on behalf of the allied troops of NATO
• Klaus Wowereit, Mayor of Berlin, on behalf of the people of Berlin