WIESBADEN, Germany — On August 20 it was announced that Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan has been chosen as the recipient of the 2026 Hessian Peace Prize. The news was released in the Hessian Landtag (regional parliament) in the state capital Wiesbaden. The prize, awarded by the Albert Osswald Foundation (named after its founder, a former Hessian governor), is given to people in recognition of their contribution to understanding among peoples and peace. Regional and national media carried the news prominently.
Landtag president and member of the foundation’s board of trustees Astrid Wallmann of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), said in her announcement that Pashinyan had been chosen in recognition of the progress in peace efforts between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Such progress sent “clear a signal of understanding and the development of non-violent perspectives for solving the conflict.” He is also being lauded for his efforts towards democratic reform since 2018, reflected as well in Armenia’s rapprochement with the European Union.
A former Landtag president, who is current chairman of the peace prize board, Karl Starzacher stressed Pashinyan’s qualifications for the award in that he had focused on diplomacy and political negotiations as opposed to further military escalation. This approach required, Starzacher added, “political courage and farsightedness.” A foundation colleague, Nicole Deitelhoff, who is also on the board of the Frankfurt Peace Research Institute, said the award recognized Pashinyan’s commitment to non-violence “in one of the most hardened conflicts in the post-Soviet arena.”
The criteria for this year’s award winner, as cited above, epitomize the attitude championed by Germany and other European Union members towards the Armenian leader. The actual parameters of the agreements reached between Pashinyan and the Azerbaijani leadership, and the political controversy they have generated inside Armenia regarding sovereign territory — including the fate of Artsakh and the political prisoners unlawfully held in Azerbaijan prisons, the future of the expelled Artsakh population, the integrity of the Armenian Constitution, to mention a few — seem to have been ignored or deleted from the agenda.
The previous winners of the prize, which was established in 1994, are diverse; they range from the Dalai Lama in 2012 to the legendary pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim in 2006 and American politician Sam Nunn in 2008.
Pashinyan will be presented with his award at a ceremony on September 18 at the State Parliament of Hesse.
