Germany

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the people of Ukraine have been awarded the 2023 Charlemagne Prize for their fight to defend democracy against an unprovoked and unjustified war started by Russia. The award underscores the fact that Ukraine is part of Europe and that its people and government – headed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy – support and defend European values, and therefore deserve to enter swiftly into accession negotiations with the European Union.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) will provide a €40 million quasi-equity investment into Wingcopter GmbH, a European leader and pioneer in unmanned delivery drone technology and related services. Founded in 2017 in the German state of Hesse, Wingcopter’s electrically powered unmanned aircraft are already delivering goods as part of several small-scale commercial and humanitarian projects. For example, in Malawi, a joint project with UNICEF and Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has seen Wingcopter’s drones deliver life-saving medicines and medical supplies to rural communities in hard-to-reach areas.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted a venture debt loan of €15 million to support health-tech start-up Smart Reporting during its growth phase. The Munich-based company has developed medical documentation technology based on artificial intelligence (AI) that makes it possible to efficiently collect, structure and process clinical data.