Premier Malta is Europeaan van het Jaar (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The Maltese Prime Minister has won an award for being the `European of the Year'.

The awards were announced at a black tie dinner reception at the Palais d'Egmont in Brussels yesterday evening (2 December).

Mr Fenech Adami was chosen by an online poll and by a competing ballot form in the Brussels-based European Voice newspaper from amongst 50 nominees which included UK Premier Tony Blair, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, and Italy's Premier Silvio Berlusconi.

Polish Minister for Europe Danuta Hübner was awarded the Statesman of the year while EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy took the European Commissioner of the year award.

Elmar Brok, who chairs the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, received the MEP of the year award, while Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, the man who chaired the Convention on the Future of Europe, was chosen as the visionary of the year.

The US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld took the title of non-EU citizen of the year, while European parliament President Pat Cox was awarded the campaigner of the year prize.

For the categories of Achiever and Diplomat, Slovenia's former Prime Minister Alojz Peterle - the only politician from an acceding country to be member of the Convention's powerful steering committee - and EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana were the respective winners.

Michael O'Leary, chief executive of budget airline Ryaniar won the Business Leader of the Year award while Robert Fisk won the journalist of the year award for his coverage of the Iraq war.