The Lithuanian parliament announced on Tuesday that it will award a democracy prize to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in recognition of his support for the Baltic republic’s security.
Merz is to receive the Aleksandras Stulginskis Star on May 19. The honour has been awarded since 2020 for the promotion of parliamentary values, democracy and statehood.
Vytautas Jucius, head of the award committee, said it was an expression of respect and gratitude to the German chancellor for his “unshakeable engagement for the freedom of Lithuania and the whole of Europe.” He noted the security guarantees that Merz had provided to Lithuania.
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Germany is deploying an armoured brigade to Lithuania in reaction to a perceived growing threat from Russia. Formally set up in the spring of 2025, the brigade is planned to total around 4,800 troops and 200 civilian support staff by next year.
Speaking in Vilnius when the brigade was set up in May 2025, Merz said: “The security of Lithuania is our security. The protection of Vilnius is the protection of Berlin.”
Stulginskis was Lithuanian president in the 1920s. He was detained by Soviet domestic intelligence in 1941 during World War II and released after Soviet leader Joseph Stalin’s death in 1952, when he returned to Lithuania, where he died in 1969.