Slovak blogger awarded 2017 European Citizen's Prize

Slovak blogger and civil activist Ján Benčík has been awarded the 2017 European Citizen's Prize granted by the European Parliament, MEP Ivan Štefanec (Christian Democrats/KDH) told TASR on Tuesday. The Slovak MEP, who nominated Benčík for the award, went on to say that the blogger deals with Slovak extremists by systematically monitoring and uncovering their extremist activities. For his comments and stories Benčík has received death threats. "He's doing great work of European significance. Nowadays when extremism in Europe is on the rise, it's extremely important to point to the people who aren't afraid to stand up against it," said Štefanec. The European Parliament has been awarding the European Citizen's Prize since 2008 to individuals and initiatives that have contributed to European cooperation and that promote common values. This year it has honoured 50 people and organisations from 26 EU countries with the award. The winners will pick up their European Citizen's Prize medal at a ceremony in Brussels in the autumn.