European Medal of Tolerance Ivo Josipovic and Ex-President of Serbia Boris Tadic at the European Parliament in Brussels by European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation Chairman Alexander Kwasniewski and ECTR Co-Chairman Viatcheslav Kantor, in recognition of the Balkan statesmens’ “significant contribution to promoting, seeking, safeguarding or maintaining tolerance on the European continent”. In 2015 Samuel Eto'o, a famous football-player, was awarded for his fight against racism in football. The European Medal of Tolerance for the 2016 was conferred on film director Andrey Konchalovsky "for his cultural achievements focused on preserving the tragic memory of the past including his film "Paradise". The European Medal of
President of the European Council other allowances). The President receives a chauffeured car and around 20 dedicated staff members. He also has a housing allowance, rather than an official residence which was considered "too symbolic". Likewise, the idea of a private jet was also rejected for being symbolic and, as one diplomat pointed out, a discrepancy in privileges between the European Council and Commission presidents may only fuel rivalry between the two. The possibility of there being greater perks for the European Council president than Commission President prompted Parliament to threaten a rejection of the 2009 budget. It saw a large salary and extras as