Baltic Assembly Prizes and Medals 2021

The Baltic Assembly Prizes 2021

On November 4, 2021 the awarding ceremony of the Baltic Assembly Prizes and Medals, as well as the Baltic Innovation Prize 2021 took place in the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania. The Baltic Assembly Prize highlights the importance of cooperation between the Baltic states and celebrates the creativity of the Baltic people. President of the Baltic Assembly Andrius Kupčinskas noted that success is best when it's shared: “We are grateful to share our accomplishments with prosperous people, who believe in strengthening the cooperation of the Baltic states”. The winners of the Baltic Assembly Prize in 2021 are Vahur Afanasjev (Laanoja) (1979-2021) (Estonia) in Literature, Ginta Gerharde-Upeniece (Latvia) in the Arts and Virginijus Šikšnys (Lithuania) in Science.

Read more about the winners here: https://www.baltasam.org/BA-Prize-winners-2021

The Baltic Innovation Prize 2021

The Baltic Innovation Prize is established by the Baltic Assembly and the Baltic Association of Science/ Technology Parks and Innovation Centre with the goal to recognize an example the Baltic entrepreneurs who have implemented new economically successful developments in their product(s), service(s) or business model(s). This year, IDenfy (Identifikaciniai sprendimai) from Lithuania was congratulated as the winner of the prize. Core business of iDenfy is to identity verification via automated process which is enforced with manual oversight. Additionally, the company is capable of detecting and defeating frauds while processing customers' data quickly and securely. Improving user experience in the identity verification process using the latest AI & biometric technologies – these are the fields of expertise of company iDenfy which also greatly contributed to measures to fight against COVID-19 pandemic.

The national winners and receivers of diplomas were SIA Integris from Latvia, which provides IT technology services and electronics development, personal data protection specialist services and many more, as well as Bisly OÜ from Estonia, who provide scalable intelligent building solutions, built around the mission of making saving energy simple and affordable to all.

Recipients of the Baltic Assembly Medals in 2021

The medal of the Baltic Assembly is an award for upholding the unity and cooperation of the Baltic states, outstanding contribution and cooperation in implementing joint cooperation projects and promoting regional cooperation in an enlarged Europe. This year it was awarded to the following list of recipients:

• Gitanas Nausėda for supporting Baltic cooperation in an enlarged Europe
• Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen for outstanding contribution to promote the parliamentary cooperation of the Baltic states
• Bodo Bahr for his significant long-term contribution to strengthening parliamentary cooperation in the Baltic Sea region
• Bertel Geismar Haarder for his significant long-term contribution to strengthening parliamentary cooperation in Europe and the Baltic Sea region
• Vytautas Juozapaitis for his determined endeavour in the field of education and science and promotion of cultural ties of the people of the Baltic states
• Ragnar Kond for his many years of outstanding news coverage on the Baltic states
• Andrius Kupčinskas for promoting multi-level cooperation between the Baltic states
• Helmen Kütt for her contribution to the work of the BA Health, Welfare and Family Committee
• Andris Levāns for his contribution to the study of Livonian history and his leadership in the creation of the collection “Medieval Livonia and Its Historical Heritage”
• Regīna Ločmele for her significant contribution to promoting cooperation between the national parliaments of the Baltic states in the field of health, welfare and family affairs
• Sten Weidebaum for his untiring efforts in promoting Estonian Song and Dance Celebration tradition and initiatives to make the Baltic region visible as environmentally sustainable and eco-friendly’