Luxembourg Air Rescue (LAR) has been awarded the 2020 Adenauer-De Gaulle Prize together with German air rescue service DRF Luftrettung for the companies' cross-border achievements during the coronavirus 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 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,” says 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,” adds René Closter, CEO and president of LAR.

Since the beginning of the crisis in March, LAR has carried out rescue flights from regions of eastern France that were badly impacted by the first wave of the 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,” continues Closter.

“This award makes us incredibly proud as an organisation and confirms that we are on our way,” states Krystian Pracz, chairman of the board of DRF Luftrettung. “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 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 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.