Prime Minister Zoran Zaev is paying a working visit to Germany, where he will be awarded the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung 2020 Human Rights Award at an official award ceremony in Berlin. He will also have meetings with Germany’s Minister of State for Europe Michael Roth and other high officials.

Roth will open the award ceremony at 3:45 pm. It will be streamed live through PM Zaev’s social media, according to the press release.

Zaev, accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs Bujar Osmani, will also hold working meetings with Social Democratic Party co-leader Norbert Walter-Borjans, and Bundestag members Nils Schmid from the SPD and Jürgen Hardt from the CDU/CSU.

Zaev will receive the 2020 Human Rights Award in recognition of his contribution to peace policy, based on the conclusion of the Friendship Agreement with Bulgaria in 2017 and the Prespa Agreement with Greece in 2018, according to the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.

“After many years of authoritarian regression in the region, Zoran Zaev personally represents a shift in direction, offering hope to progressive forces in Southeast Europe,” the foundation wrote.

Praising his personal commitment to good neighborly relations “so that, after 27 years, the blockade on North Macedonia’s NATO membership and on the start of EU accession negotiations could be lifted, the foundation noted that “both agreements represent crucial milestones on the way to better living conditions for the citizens.”

The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung’s Human Rights Award was first presented in 1994, based on the legacy of Karl and Ida Feist from Hamburg. It is given to persons or organizations who have made a special contribution to human rights in different regions of the world.