Journalism prize "Writing for CEE" in the European "super-year"

• Bank Austria and APA continue their successful cooperation to highlight outstanding works by journalists 
• Prize money of 5,000 euro to be awarded for the sixth time
• 2009 is the European "super-year" characterized by elections, fall of the Iron Curtain and the 5th anniversary of the biggest enlargement of the EU

Bank Austria, a member of UniCredit Group, is announcing the prestigious journalism prize "Writing for CEE" in cooperation with the APA - Austria Press Agency for the sixth time. 2009 is the European "super-year" with elections in all 27 member states, the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Iron Curtain and the 5th anniversary of the biggest enlargement to date of the European Union by a total of ten countries. The majority of these countries are in the former eastern bloc and the aim of the award "Writing for CEE" is to promote journalism dealing with questions of European integration and the future of Europe with a special focus on Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and South-East Europe.

Until 31 July 2009 journalists from all European countries are invited to submit articles already published in the period from 1 August 2008 to 31 July 2009. Transcripts of radio, TV and online contributions are also eligible and welcome. The prize winner will be announced and presented at the end of 2009 during a gala event in Vienna and receive the prize money of 5,000 euro.

The prize winner in 2008 was radio journalist Anna Koktsidou, who was born in Greece and grew up in Germany. She received the award for her report entitled "The new strangers - Greece and its immigrants", which was broadcast in June 2008 by "Deutschlandfunk", a German national information radio station. The jury came to the conclusion that the vivid report on the fate of refugees and migrants at the EU's external border was also highly topical for the "centre of Europe".

Requirements for submission are: the article in the original language, an English translation, the submission form and the author's curriculum vitae. Detailed information and the submission form for "Writing for CEE" can be downloaded from the Internet at http://www.apa.at/cee-award. Applications can be sent to the e-mail address cee.award@apa.at.

About UniCredit Group

UniCredit is a major international financial institution with strong roots in 22 European countries as well as representative offices in 27 other markets, with over 40 million clients.

In the CEE region, UniCredit operates the largest international banking network with over 4,000 branches and outlets.

The Group operates in the following CEE countries: Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey and Ukraine.

Requests:

Communications CEE
Silvana Lins
Phone: +43 (0) 50505 56036
E-mail : silvana.lins@unicreditgroup.at