The outgoing Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin has been awarded the Helmut Schmidt Future Prize. The EUR 20,000 award for innovative achievements in the areas of democracy, society and technology was presented to her on Thursday evening at Hamburg’s Thalia Theater.
In its statement, the jury described the 37-year-old social democrat as a pioneering European with clear values and her own political style. The head of government brought Finland through the corona pandemic very effectively.
Marin came to power at the end of 2019 as the youngest prime minister in the world at the time. Despite gains, she and her Social Democrats lost the parliamentary elections on April 2nd. Former Conservative Finance Minister Petteri Orpo is now aiming for a centre-right coalition.
The Helmut Schmidt Future Prize is awarded by the weekly newspaper “Die Zeit”, the Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt Foundation and The New Institute. It was only awarded for the second time. Last year, the award went to Ugandan climate protection activist Vanessa Nakate.
