The decision to award the decoration was made by President Kersti Kaljulaid during her time in office.
Helga Maria Schmid has been serving as the Secretary General of the OSCE since 2020, having been the Secretary General of the European External Action Service from 2016-2020. She was awarded the decoration for her significant and long-term contribution to maintaining the unity of the European Union, to building up the joint foreign, security and defence policy of the union and to the development of the European External Action Service.
Schmid has made a strong and very personal contribution to EU unity, playing a major role in ensuring that Member States adhere to the five guiding principles in relations with Russia since its annexation of Crimea. She has also been involved in the development and consolidation of EU sanctions policy and the provision of support to Eastern Partnership states, and has worked to actively assist Ukraine.
