Lithuanian parliament proposes awarding Stulginskis Star to German Chancellor Merz

The Lithuanian parliament’s Aleksandro Stulginskis Star Award Commission has proposed granting the state decoration to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, the Seimas announced on Wednesday. The final decision will be made by parliament.

Commission chair and MP Vytautas Jucius stated that the award would honour Merz’s efforts to strengthen parliamentary democracy and defend Lithuanian and European freedom. “It is very important to recognise individuals whose work reinforces parliamentary values and democratic principles,” Jucius said.

Merz, a lawyer who has served as chancellor since May 2025, previously worked in the European Parliament and the Bundestag. The Seimas highlighted his “exceptional contribution” to Lithuania’s statehood, parliamentary democracy, and European unity.

Under Merz’s leadership, Lithuania and Germany have achieved an “unprecedented strategic level” of cooperation, directly bolstering Lithuania’s sovereignty and democratic institutions, according to the commission. His personal initiative led to the historic deployment of a permanent German brigade in Lithuania—the first such foreign deployment of German troops since World War II and a key element of NATO’s eastern flank deterrence.

The commission emphasised Merz’s principle that “Lithuania’s security is Germany’s security, and the defence of Vilnius is the defence of Berlin,” calling it a symbol of a new era in European defence solidarity.

Established in 2020, the Aleksandro Stulginskis Star honours figures who uphold parliamentary democracy, statehood, and democratic values. Named after the first speaker of Lithuania’s Constituent Assembly and later president, the award is typically presented on May 15—the anniversary of Lithuania’s 1920 declaration of independence—or at the nearest parliamentary session.

Previous recipients include MEP and signatory Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis, former Seimas speakers Česlovas Juršėnas and Irena Degutienė, US Senator Richard Durbin, former President Valdas Adamkus, Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk, dissident nun Felicija Nijolė Sadūnaitė (posthumously), and Moldovan academic Valeriu Matei.