18:00   Award Ceremony

Welcome

Manuel Sarrazin, President of the Southeast Europe Association

Laudation (GER)

Josip Juratovic MdB, Chairman of the German-Southeast European Parliamentary Group, SPD-Faction, Berlin/Heilbronn; Vice-President of the Southeast Europe Association

Acceptance:

Xhabir Memedi Deralla, investigative journalist and human rights activist, North Macedonia 

18:45   CONVERSATION AND DISCUSSION

Awardee

Xhabir Memedi Deralla

Moderation

Adelheid Feilcke, Director of Programs for Europe, Deutsche Welle

19:30   RECEPTION
 

THE SOLIDARITY AWARD

The Solidarity Award honors courageous journalists from our partner countries, who often expose themselves to great personal risks due to their critical reporting. It aims to honor their outstanding work and to recognize their contribution to the promotion of democracy, rule of law, and freedom of the press. The award is also intended to contribute to the protection of journalists on the ground through the public attention it attracts and to honor the great achievements of the award winners. With the award, the SOG wants to demonstrate that it stands by those who speak up for European values such as freedom of the press and freedom of expression. The prize is awarded at a specially designed event and is financed entirely through donations.

THE AWARDEE

Xhabir Memedi Deralla, born in 1967, is a human rights activist, writer, journalist, and hybrid warfare analyst. He is one of the founders and serves as the head of CIVIL, a prominent human rights organization based in North Macedonia since its establishment in 1999. Deralla leads the organization's creative initiatives and serves as the chief coordinator and producer of multimedia projects, awareness-raising campaigns, festivals, documentaries, conferences, and other projects and events. He also holds the role of editor-in-chief and contributes as an author, analyst, and columnist for media outlets within CIVIL’s media platform. 

Deralla's career spans back to 1989, during which he has worked with numerous media organizations both domestically and internationally. He is the member of the Association of Journalists of North Macedonia since 1990, and a member of Amnesty International since 1994. Since 2008, Deralla has also been the person in charge of election observation operations of CIVIL in North Macedonia, cooperating with numerous international and regional organizations in that area. 

Additionally, Deralla and his team are specialized in several fields, including arms control (CIVIL is a senior member organization of IANSA), and countering disinformation and hybrid warfare tactics in the country and the Western Balkans region.
 

REGISTRATION

To participate in the event, please register at the following link by 26 June 2024 at the latest: Registration

The award ceremony will be preceded by a panel discussion on „Südosteuropa im Spiegel deutscher und weltpolitischer Herausforderungen“ (in German language only) at 16:00. Please register using the same form. Further information on this event can be found on our Website (link).