Baltic Assembly Prizes and Medals Award Ceremony 2025

On 13 November 2025, the Baltic Assembly Prizes and Medals Award Ceremony took place at the Brothers Kokari Hall, Mežaparks Grand Bandstand in Riga, Latvia. The event is a celebration of exceptional achievements in literature, the arts, science, and innovation, as well as a tribute to individuals who have increased cooperation between the Baltic States. This year, the Baltic Assembly Prize in Literature was awarded to poet, essayist, literary critic, and translator Tomas Andrius Venclova for his latest book of poetry, “Už Onos ir Bernardinų.” The Prize in the Arts was awarded to conductor Kaspars Putniņš for his performance with the Latvian Radio Choir in the concert program “The Dream Stream”, held within the framework of the Baltic Music Days in 2023. The Prize in Science was awarded to Professor of Political Theory at the University of Tartu Eva Piirimäe for her monograph “Herder and Enlightenment Politics.”

Baltic Assembly Medals 

The Medal is an award of the Baltic Assembly for upholding the unity and cooperation of the Baltic States. The recipients of the Baltic Assembly Medals in 2025 are: 

Reinis Āboltiņš, energy expert, for his significant contribution to the development and explanation of energy policy, with particular emphasis on the interdisciplinary analysis of energy security, renewable energy, and climate issues, as well as for his active participation in the work of the Baltic Assembly committees and public debate. 

Agnija Antanoviča, Secretary General of the Baltic Assembly, for her exceptionally selfless work in supporting the functioning of the Baltic Assembly and in promoting the good name of the organisation.

Brigadier General (ret) Michael H. Clemmesen, Danish strategy historian and retired army general staff officer, for his outstanding contribution in coordinating the development of military cooperation between the Baltics and the Nordics after the restoration of independence as the founder and first Commandant of the Baltic Defence College in 1998-2004, and for his service as the first Defence Attaché of Denmark to the Baltic countries in 1994-1998. 

Giedrius Drukteinis, Vice President of the Baltic Assembly, Chair of the Lithuanian delegation to the Baltic Assembly, for the determined leadership and momentous role in promoting cooperation among the Baltic States. 
Brigadier General Christoph Huber, Commander of the German Brigade in Lithuania, for defending the territory of the Baltic States and shared values, and for ensuring credible deterrence.

Gintautas Paluckas, former Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania, for the outstanding contribution to and sincere cooperation in the implementation of joint projects of the Baltic States. 

Valvi Strikaitienė, Estonian translator and diplomat, for her numerous translations from Lithuanian to Estonian and for promoting diplomatic relations between Lithuania and Estonia as Estonia’s first Ambassador to Lithuania after the restoration of independence. 

Uudo Timm, Estonian zoologist, for promoting cooperation and communication between the Baltic States regarding nature protection and zoology, and for organising the Baltic Theriological Conferences since the establishment of the Estonian Theriological Society in 1980. 

Anna Žīgure, diplomat and writer, for her achievements in integrating Latvia into the community of Baltic Sea nations and for her outstanding contribution to promoting cultural cooperation between the Baltic States and popularising their shared values. 

Baltic Innovation Prize

The Baltic Innovation Prize was awarded to SPARK TECHNOLOGIES SIA, which is a spin-off from Prestol Grupa, incorporating all initial design, development, and composite-engineering expertise brought over from the parent before the new entity was established. Building on over a decade of experience in advanced composites and watercraft, SPARK focuses on the design, research and development, and manufacture of crewed and uncrewed surface and underwater vessels, as well as aviation-grade composite components. Its flagship offerings include 100% electric jet-propelled tender vessels (such as the SPARK ST 330) and modular autonomous surface vessel (USV) platforms adapted for defence, maritime mobility, and smart-city or industrial inspection roles. The company is headquartered in the port area of Riga, leveraging its composite manufacturing heritage while adding systems integration, autonomy, propulsion, and modular payload capabilities. 

Additionally, national winners and recipients of diplomas are WAYREN OÜ, an Estonian deep-tech startup developing a mission-critical communications platform designed for defence, security, and crisis-response applications, and LUNA ROBOTICS UAB, a Lithuanian defence technology company developing LunaCam - a rugged, FPV-drone night-vision camera engineered for frontline use. 

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