Tusk was due to travel to Potsdam to receive the M100 Media Award, which is given to “personalities who are committed to strengthening democracy, freedom of expression and freedom of the press as well as to European understanding,” according to the German M100 Sanssouci Colloquium organisation, APA reports citing Euroactiv.
But Tusk cancelled his trip at the last moment, citing domestic commitments, and Justice Minister Adam Bodnar will now travel in his place.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz, due to deliver a laudation in Tusk’s honour, will also not attend the ceremony.
“It is with deep regret that Chancellor Olaf Scholz has had to cancel his participation in the M100 Media Award due to scheduling conflicts. Prime Minister Donald Tusk can also not attend the ceremony in person due to important national commitments,” the organisers said.
Former German President Joachim Gauck and former German Defence Minister Rudolf Scharping will deliver the laudatory speeches.
The symbolic M100 Media Award is intended as a “prize of the European press”, with the winners selected by the members of the M100 Advisory Board. Previous winners include the Women’s Life Freedom Movement in Iran, the people of Ukraine, Alexey Navalny and Mario Draghi.
Tusk, whom Potsdam Mayor Mike Schubert previously described as “an essential advocate of our democratic, free society”, will be honoured alongside Kosovo President Viosa Osmani.
Schubert said Tusk was being honoured for his “tireless fight against autocracy,” while Osmani “demonstrated determination and foresight in defence of a young democracy in a region that has long been marked by conflict.”
Following elections in October, the Tusk-led coalition of centrist and left-wing parties (EPP/S&D/Renew) took power from the previous conservative PiS (ECR) government, which had seen the country’s access to EU funds blocked by the European Commission for rule of law violations and was criticised by international organisations for undermining media freedom.
The new government has taken steps to restore the independence of Poland’s judiciary and changed the management of public media, which international watchdogs warned had become a propaganda tool of the ruling party under PiS rule.
MNA/PR
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