Emmanuel Macron, Daphne Caruana Galizia, Edyta Kocyk, Boyan Slat, Krisztian Imre and Florin Badita were all recognised for their outstanding contribution to their respective fields during the European Leadership Awards on Wednesday.
Six awards were handed out during the glitzy ceremony organised by Euronews and the European Business Summit, including European Leader of the Year, European Innovator of the Year, European CEO of the Year, European Entrepreneur of the Year and European Personality of the Year.
French President Emmanuel Macron revolutionised politics in his country when he launched his grassroot political movement En Marche in April 2016. Thirteen months later he was elected to the presidency despite never having held an elected office before. The youthful leader has been very vocal about his commitment to the EU.
In a note read by Philippe Leglise, French Ambassador to the EU, Macron encouraged people to build a new, closer and stronger Europe. “Europe is not a given, it takes work,” Macron warned.
European Parliament President Antonio Tajani presented a special award in memory of the late Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. “It’s unacceptable that a journalist be murdered in Europe,” Tajani said, adding that the EU is “committed to defending the freedom of the press.” “We shall never forget Daphne and her work,” he added. Her sons, Andrew and Matthew Caruana Galizia, received the award on her behalf.
Polish entrepreneur Edyta Kocyk who launched her business SiDLY in 2014 out of necessity, was given the European CEO of the Year Award. Her grandmother was sick and concerned for her well-being, the PhD graduate designed a telemedical wristband which is now used in some of Europe’s clinics and hospitals.
Dutch inventor Boyan Slat was given the European Entrepreneur of the Year award. In 2013 and at just 20 years-old, Dutch inventor Boyan Slat dropped out of his Aerospace Engineering course to launch The Ocean Cleanup, a system to speed up the recovery of plastic amassing in the world’s ocean.
Krisztian Imre who is the Founder and CEO of EVA was given the European innovator of the year award. It is his deeply held belief that it is time blind people were given a better way to get around than GPS. This led to him developing the Extended Visual Assistant. EVA can significantly improve everyday activities such as walking, reading, recognising objects and socialising for partially sighted people. His passion has led to a vision of the future for thousands of people.
Romanian Florin Badita who founded Corruption Kills, a civic group fighting corruption, after the 2015 fire at the Colectiv nightclub in which 64 people died, was given the European of Personality of the Year award. The 29-year-old’s campaign also helped put an end to the decriminalisation of Romanian corruption cases where damages total less than €45,000 and uncovered several cases of embezzlement. Earlier this year, he was named as one of Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe, Law and Policy.
Source Euro News
