His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Visit Europe: Press Release

His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Visit Europe:
Press Release
Thursday, 5 February 2009, 2:40 p.m.His Holiness the Dalai Lama will visit Rome, Venice (Italy) and Baden Baden (Germany). His Holiness will be conferred with Italian and German honours for his contribution to global peace and rightsof Tibetans
Geneva: His Holiness the Dalai Lama will arrive in Rome, the capital of Italy on 8 February 2009 in the first leg of his visitto Europe. Rome and Venice will honour His Holiness the Dalai Lamafor his contribution to world peace and human rights. In BadenBaden, Germany, His Holiness the Dalai Lama will be bestowed the Deutsche Medienpreis (the German Media Prize) for his spirit of"reconciliation, tolerance, humility and respect" and forrepresenting "the non-violent struggle for the rights of theTibetan people."
This is His Holiness the Dalai Lama's first trip abroad in 2009.The visit comes as Tibetans worldwide are preparing to commemoratethe 50th anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising againstChinese rule in Tibet.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama is visiting Rome at the invitation ofits Mayor, Gianni Alemanno, to receive the Honorary Citizenship ofRome on 9 February. The Rome City Council had approved by anoverwhelming majority a motion in September 2008 to the conferralof Honorary Citizenship to His Holiness for "his internationalefforts to find a peaceful solution for Tibet and for havingaffirmed the principles of human rights and peaceful conflict-resolution between nations."
His Holiness the Dalai Lama will then travel to Venice to receivethat city's Honorary Citizenship. The Venice City Councilunanimously approved a resolution for this purpose on 29 July 2008.
Media Control, one of Germany's leading market-research companiesas well as an interpreter in media-studies, analysis, andevaluation, will present His Holiness the Dalai Lama the DeutscheMedienpreis (the German Media Prize) on 10 February in Baden Baden.A 20-member jury consisting of Germany's most important andinfluential media chief editors voted His Holiness the Dalai Lamafor the 2008 Award.
The announcement said, "In a time of religious tension, self-destructive, addiction to profit and ongoing violations of humanrights, the Dalai Lama actively advocates reconciliation,tolerance, humility and respect. He represents the non-violentstruggle for the rights of the Tibetan people, a struggle he hasbeen leading for over 50 years from exile in India." Previousrecipients of the German award include Nelson Mandela, Kofi Annan,Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, King Hussein of Jordan, and KingJuan Carlos of Spain.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama will return to India on 11 February.
Tseten Samdup Chhoekyapa, Representative of His Holiness the DalaiLama for Central and Eastern Europe said, "His Holiness the DalaiLama feels honored to receive these awards in the spirit with whichhe received the 1989 Noble Peace Prize."
In His Holiness the Dalai Lama Nobel Peace lecture then, HisHoliness had said, "The awarding of the Nobel Prize to me, a simplemonk from far away Tibet ...fills us Tibetans with hope. It meansthat, despite the fact that we have not drawn attention to ourplight by means of violence, we have not been forgotten... I amdeeply touched by the sincere concern shown by so many people inthis part of the world for the suffering of the people of Tibet.That is a source of hope not only for us Tibetans, but for alloppressed peoples."
"The visit to Italy and Germany by His Holiness the Dalai Lamacomes at a time when the Tibetan people in Tibet are facingincreasing Chinese crackdown," said Chhoekyapa. "The Chineseauthorities in Tibet have launched a 42-day "Strike Hard" campaignon 18 January 2009 resulting in the arrest of over 5,766 Tibetansin Tibet and the crackdown has created great fear amongst theTibetans," he added. The Tibetan leadership in exile has asked theChinese authorities to immediately call-off the "Strike Hard"campaign.
In His Holiness the Dalai Lama's message to the Chinese communityon the occasion of the Chinese New Year on 25 January 2009, HisHoliness said, "I hope and pray that in the coming year thePeople's Republic of China will be able to create a meaningfulharmonious society by ensuring equality, justice and friendshipamong all its nationalities."
- --Issued by the Office of Tibet, Geneva