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 not hold formal powers such as the ability to directly appoint and sack the Commission President, or the ability to dissolve Parliament. Hence while the European Council president may have prestige, he/she lacks power and while the Commission President has power, he/she lacks the prestige of the former. Some believe this problem would be increased further if the Council president were to be strengthened by a democratic mandate, as mentioned above. President of the European Council The President of the European Council is a principal representative of the European Union (EU) on the world stage, and the person presiding over