German Chancellor Angela Merkel delivered the keynote address, and Joachim Gauck, a respected German pastor who was a human-rights activist in East Germany, paid tribute to Westergaard in a speech. Both celebrated Westergaard as a pioneer of free speech who has left his mark in history. “Regardless of whether or not we view the caricatures as necessary or helpful,” Merkel explained, “Europe is a place where a cartoonist is allowed to do something like this.” For his part, Gauck said that bestowing the award on Westergaard was an “appeal to all to remain steadfast, value-oriented and courageous.”

The two statements could hardly have been clearer or more unambiguous: for freedom and against fundamentalism; for the values of the Enlightenment and against cultural relativism. While Merkel read her speech from prepared notes, Gauck primarily extemporized, saying things such as: “I am filled with disgust when our advocacy of freedom is defamed in the culture pages as Western hegemony.” Merkel declared: “Freedom of religion does not mean that Shariah stands above the German constitution…. No cultural difference can justify the disregard for fundamental rights.” http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,716665,00.html