VideoGalerie
On Thursday, 28 November, conductor Normunds Šnē received the Baltic Assembly (BA) Prize for the Arts. In the award ceremony at the Small Guild in Riga, the Latvian conductor was awarded the prize for his performance at the concert in honour of the centenary of the Baltic States with the Chamber Orchestra “Sinfonietta Rīga” and Tallinn Chamber orchestra — event that took place at the Baltic Sea Festival in Stockholm last year.
The BA Prize for Literature was awarded to the Estonian author Leelo Tungal for her autobiographic trilogy “Comrade Kid” with a special emphasis on the last book of the series “A Woman’s Touch” and its depiction of the Stalin era through the eyes of a child.
Meanwhile, the BA Prize for Science was awarded to Professor Jūras Banys from Lithuania for his outstanding contribution to science by carrying out research in ferroelectricity and phase transitions.
“The Baltic way is an unrelenting endeavour for excellence. Tonight, we celebrate true excellence, which is characteristic of all the Baltic Assembly Prize winners. We, the Baltic people, must choose a common way — a path of knowledge, experience, and creativity,” asserted Ināra Mūrniece, Speaker of the Saeima.
In his address at the award ceremony, Jānis Vucāns, President of the BA and Head of the Latvian delegation to the BA, highlighted the importance of unity and close cooperation of the Baltic States and expressed his gratitude to the people who share this view and, in their deeds, strengthen friendship and trust among the people of the Baltics.
A panel of nine experts from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania representing the fields of literature, the arts and science, assessed the nominees for the BA Prize. The monetary value of each prize is EUR 5000. The BA Prize was established in 1994 and since then has been awarded to many prominent figures in the fields of culture, science and the arts.
Additionally, during the ceremony, the Baltic Innovation Prize was awarded to the Latvian producer and developer of unmanned aircrafts “UAV Factory”. The Baltic Innovation Prize was established by the BA in cooperation with the Baltic Association of Science/Technology Parks and Innovation Centres (BASTIC). Entrepreneurs who have marketed innovative and successful products, services or business models within the past three years are eligible for the prize.
BA medals for special merit in upholding the unity and cooperation of the Baltic States were also awarded on Thursday. The recipients of the BA medals were Patricia Creutz-Vilvoye, Vice-President of the Benelux Parliament; Jānis Kažociņš, National Security Adviser to the President of Latvia and Secretary of the National Security Council; and Avo Keel, coach of the Latvia men's national volleyball team.
BA medals were also awarded to Benny Marcel, Director of the Nordic Culture Fund; George Mosidze, Head of the Georgian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of Georgia, Ukraine, Armenia, and Moldova (GUAM PA); Darius Remeika, Director of the Lithuanian State Food and Veterinary Service; Aurelijus Veryga, Minister of Health of Lithuania; Estonian opera singer Ain Anger; and Latvian ethnomusicologist, composer, musician Valdis Muktupāvels.
The award ceremony took place on Thursday, 28 November, preceding the 38th Session of the BA. MPs from Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania gathered in Riga to discuss topical cooperation issues, among them the development of the Baltic energy market, hydrogen perspective, and tightening cooperation in higher education and medicine.
Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/saeima/albums/72157711978778951
Disclaimer & copyright: https://www.saeima.lv/en/copyright
Saeima Press Service