Press Release

At a time when European values are being challenged, LAR is keen to underscore its attachment to France and European neighbours.

Issued by Luxembourg Air Rescue.

December 16, 2020

Luxembourg Air Rescue (LAR) has been awarded the 2020 Adenauer-De Gaulle Prize together with German air rescue service DRF Luftrettung for their outstanding cross-border achievements during the Corona crisis.

In granting the award, the prize judges paid tribute to the enormous professionalism and solidarity shown by both organisations in transporting French patients with COVID-19 to German hospitals and back as a special sign of neighbourly help in Europe.

“This solidarity of civil society across borders was particularly important at a time of heightened fear and tension in the everyday lives of people in the border region,” said Michael Roth, member of the Bundestag, Minister of State for Europe, at the German Federal Foreign Office and Clément Beaune, State Secretary for European Affairs, at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“Especially at a time when European values are being openly attacked and challenged, we are particularly keen to underscore our attachment to France and our European neighbours,” says René Closter, CEO and president of Luxembourg Air Rescue.

Since the beginning of the Corona crisis in March, LAR has carried out rescue flights from those regions of eastern France that were badly impacted by the first wave of the Corona virus, making a significant contribution to the relief of overcrowded intensive care units.

“This award is awarded not only to LAR as an organisation, but above all to the LAR staff who, even during the pandemic, stand ready to intervene day and night to save lives in Luxembourg, the greater region and around the world,” says René Closter.

"This award makes us incredibly proud as an organisation and confirms that we are on our way," said Dr. Krystian Pracz, chairman of the board of DRF Luftrettung on receiving the award. "The awarding of the Adenauer-de Gaulle-Preis represents a special recognition and appreciation of the work done by the DRF Luftrettung."

The Adenauer-De Gaulle Prize was established on the 25th anniversary of the Elysée Treaty on January 22, 1988 and is awarded to persons, initiatives or institutions who, through their work, have made an outstanding contribution to the consolidation of Franco-German friendship. A binational jury, co-chaired by the Commissioner for Franco-German Cooperation selects the award winners. LAR shares the 10,000-euro prize with Germany’s DRF air rescue team. If Corona restrictions allow, the prize will be handed over to representatives of both organisations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris in the first quarter of 2021.