It is to be welcomed that German Netzwerk Quadriga withdrew the award of the Quadriga prize to Russian Prime Minister Putin at the very last minute.  The strong public reactions to the plans to give this award to Putin, and the continued justification by some members of the jury of such decision, raises the question how the future dialogue between Russia and Germany should be shaped.

A version of this article was published in the German news magazine Stern.

Awarding of prizes to leading political figures usually involves a degree of exaggeration as well as selective omissions of history.  Even by these standards, the recent decision by the jury to present Putin with its prestigious annual award would have been horribly misjudged.

The Quadriga Award is associated with values, model behaviour and innovative ideas focused on the future that Germany admires.   Does Germany really see Putin’s Russia as an inspiration and a model for the future?  Putin’s growing crisis of legitimacy at home certainly suggests that a majority of Russian citizens do not.