Maria Kolesnikova receives Charlemagne Prize in Aachen
Mar 14th 2026
Belarusian opposition figure Maria Kolesnikova received the Charlemagne Prize in person in Aachen after being awarded it in absentia in 2022; she was released from detention in December 2025 and granted asylum in Germany.
- Kolesnikova accepted the Charlemagne Prize in Aachen, which honors work advancing European unity.
- She had been awarded the prize in absentia in May 2022 after being unable to attend due to arrest in Minsk's crackdown on opposition protests.
- Kolesnikova was released in mid-December 2025 under a US-brokered deal with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko.
- Germany has granted her political asylum and she now resides in Berlin.
- She shared the 2022 award with Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and Veronika Tsepkalo for their struggle for democratic rights in Belarus.
- At the ceremony she spoke in German and called on European politicians to engage with Lukashenko, saying the EU holds leverage over Minsk.