Wrocław Global Forum

Since 2010 the City of Wrocław is a host of the annual, international transatlantic conference – the Wrocław Global Forum. Convened in one of Central Europe’s most dynamic cultural and entrepreneurial hubs, the Wrocław Global Forum (WGF) aims at strengthening the voice of Central Europe as a strong partner in the transatlantic community and a leader on global values. The region’s transition is a testament to the transformative power of Euro-Atlantic integration and what can be achieved through constructive US-European cooperation. Now one of the premier foreign policy conferences in Central Europe, the Wrocław Global Forum brings together over 350 top policy-makers and business leaders to explore the region’s impact as an actor in Europe, as well as its crucial role in the transatlantic partnership and on the global stage. Since its founding in 2010, the Wrocław Global Forum has attracted top speakers such as US Senator John McCain; former President of Poland Lech Wałęsa; former US National Security Advisor General James Jones; Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova Vladimir Filat; Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Radosław Sikorski; and top ministers and CEOs from the region.

The Wrocław Global Forum also became the home of The Atlantic Council Freedom Awards, which 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.

PAST FREEDOM AWARD RECIPIENTS:

2016:

◊ Dr. Horst Teltschik, German diplomat; former National Security Advisor to Chancellor Helmut Kohl

◊ Father Maciej Zięba, Polish philosopher, writer, and theologian

◊ Nighat Dad, Executive Director, Digital Rights Foundation, Pakistan

◊ Syria Civil Defence (“The White Helmets”)

2015:
◊ Carl Bildt, former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Sweden

◊ Donetsk National University

◊ Agnieszka Holland, Polish Film Director

◊ Nadia Savchenko

◊ Boris Nemtsov, posthumous award presented by Garry Kasparov

2014:

◊ Baroness Catherine Ashton, Vice President and High Representative of the European Union for Foreign and Security Policy

◊ Toomas Hendrik Ilves, President of the Republic of Estonia

◊ Miklós Németh, former Prime Minister of Hungary

◊ People of the Maidan to be accepted by Vitali Klitschko, Ruslana, and Ihor Lutsenko introduced by Radosław Sikorski

◊ The Polish American Freedom Foundation and Jerzy Koźmiński introduced by Zbigniew Brzezinski

2013:

◊ Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Former Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland

◊ European Humanities University of Belarus

◊ Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani activist

◊ 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

◊ 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

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 Wałesa, 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