A man who has stood for liberal democracy in Europe for almost 40 years. A true friend of Estonia and freedom. This is what the President of Estonia – Tomass Henrik Ilves – wrote on his Twitter account about Eugeniusz Smolar. An expert and a member of the board of Centre for International Relations was awarded with a class V Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana for his contribution to journalism for the Republic of Estonia. The award has been constituted in 1995 to honour the Estonian independence and it is the highest class decoration given to non-Estonian citizens for special services to the Republic of Estonia.

The name Terra Mariana is connected to Medieval Livonia – a region of present Latvia and Estonia ruled by the Teutonic Knights between 1207-1561 - which literally means the Land of Mary. The Order comprises of 5 basic classes and one special class – the Collar of the Cross of Terra Mariana. We would like to express our congratulations.

More about Eugeniusz Smolar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugeniusz_Smolar