Adam Bodnar, Poland’s former justice minister, has been awarded the German Hambach Freedom Award, presented as part of the Democracy Festival in Neustadt an der Weinstraße. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier delivered the laudatory speech in Bodnar’s honor. “Who could be a more fitting recipient of this award than a passionate advocate of democracy and the rule of law from Poland?” Steinmeier asked.
The Hambach Freedom Award has been presented every two years since 2022 and is linked to the Freedom Festival. Its first recipient in 2022 was former German President Joachim Gauck, while the 2024 laureate was Russian opposition activist and historian Irina Shcherbakova, co-founder of Memorial. Recipients also receive a monetary prize of €10,000.
This year, the German award was presented to former Polish Justice Minister and Prosecutor General Adam Bodnar.
Steinmeier: “You are a role model for Germans”
The tribute to the former minister in Donald Tusk’s government was delivered by German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. In his speech, he referred to the Hambach Festival of 1832, an event widely regarded as the starting point of German democracy.
“Just as then, three national flags are flying in front of this building [Hambach Castle] today. (…) The German colors, black, red, and gold, give a fraternal kiss to the French tricolor and the Polish flag. Who, then, could be a more fitting recipient of this award than a passionate advocate of democracy and the rule of law from Poland?”
Steinmeier asked.
He said that Bodnar “embodies the values of the freedom fighters of that era” and “represents a country that twice led Germany on its path toward freedom and democracy, serving as a model in both 1832 and 1989.”
Steinmeier recalled meeting Bodnar in 2018, when “in a small group, we discussed the rule of law, threats to democracy, and authoritarian tendencies in Europe.” He emphasized that the award recipient became known above all for his opposition to the controversial judicial reforms and for the courage required to take that stand.
“Dear Adam, many years ago, you warned that authoritarian governments would discredit and undermine the independence of democratic institutions, and you were right. Today, we observe these authoritarian tendencies in many parts of the world. The very institutions that are independent of those in power and are meant to monitor and balance their influence are being disregarded and attacked in many countries: the press, culture, the independent judiciary, and above all, constitutional review.”
Steinmeier also expressed satisfaction with developments in Hungary, where, as he put it, “people are raising their voices in defense of democracy.”
A particularly noteworthy passage concerned media freedom.
“You have repeatedly stressed how extraordinarily important press freedom is in a democracy. Without independent journalism, free elections are virtually impossible. ‘Fund your friends and silence your enemies,’ that is how you once described the strategy of autocrats. When independent media are silenced, when public broadcasters are placed under government control or financially constrained, when newspapers are deliberately acquired to weaken them, then press freedom is under threat.”
“Despite all opposition, you consistently and resolutely defend human dignity, the rule of law, and freedom. In doing so, you are a role model for us Germans,”
Steinmeier concluded.
Bodnar: “I am merely a brick in the wall of democracy”
In his acceptance speech, Adam Bodnar thanked Steinmeier for the tribute and for highlighting Polish-German relations and their historical context. He said the award recognized the entire community that has fought for the rule of law in Poland and that he himself was merely “a brick helping to build the wall of democratic standards” in the country.
“When we began the process of restoring the rule of law in Poland, that mission was not yet complete, and in my view it still is not, but step by step we are rebuilding democratic standards,”
the former minister said.
In his speech, Bodnar emphasized the importance of civil society to modern democracy. He highlighted the surge in civic engagement after 2015 in response to legislative initiatives undertaken by the United Right government. According to Bodnar, civil society “carried the flame” throughout the following years.
He pointed to several phenomena, including “street opposition,” civic education initiatives, judicial associations representing judges in disciplinary proceedings, and organizations assisting those “affected by the illiberal regime.”
Bodnar also recalled the “March of a Thousand Robes” and noted that judicial associations are seeking to designate January 11, the date of the march, as a Day of Judicial Independence.
He acknowledged that Donald Tusk’s coalition would not have won the 2023 election without the engagement of civil society.
German media describe Bodnar as a “fierce critic of the right-wing conservative PiS government,” who “condemned the controversial reforms through which PiS sought to subordinate the judiciary to politics.”
Today, alongside Steinmeier and Rhineland-Palatinate Minister-President Gordon Schnieder, Bodnar will take part in the ceremonial opening of the festival in Neustadt. He will also deliver a speech entitled “A Shared Past, an Uncertain Future: Shaping the Polish-German Partnership.”
The Freedom Festival is organized by the City of Neustadt an der Weinstraße, the Hambach Castle Foundation, and the Foundation for Places of German Democratic History.
“A pet that cannot later be abandoned”
This is not the first German award received by Adam Bodnar. Considerable attention was drawn to the prize awarded to the former Ombudsman by the Federation of German-Polish Societies in 2021.
At that time, Bodnar spoke about the influence of German legal thought on the development of Poland’s legal culture after 1989, as well as the “special responsibility borne by a mentor” and the process of “taming a pet that cannot later be abandoned.”