| The head of Russian liberal party Yabloko, Grigory
Yavlinsky, will receive the Liberal International Prize for Freedom
on Monday.
He is awarded for the defense of liberal democracy and market economics
in both the USSR and the Russian Federation. Yavlinsky is the first Russian
politician to receive this award.
Yabloko head was nominated for the award by the faction Liberals, Democrats
and Reformers of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
This decision was made in October 2003 during a session of the Liberal
International in Dakar, Senegal. The party had an observer status by the
Liberal International since 1998, and became its full member in 2002.
Yavlinsky will receive the award during a ceremony in Berlin. He will
also give a report on liberal democracy in Russia.
Yabloko failed to enter the Russian parliament in the December 2003
elections. It exists since 1993.
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