Overview
- Franz was honored during a Unity Day state awards event at the Kremlin, where foreign and Russian cultural figures were recognized.
- He thanked President Vladimir Putin for the chance to be in Russia and for the high recognition of his work.
- Franz said Germans still remember Putin’s 2007 address at the Munich Security Conference, calling it important.
- He recounted a decades-old encounter in St. Petersburg in which Putin addressed him in German.
- State outlets offered differing descriptions of the honor, with TASS citing the Order of Friendship and RIA referencing presidential gratitude, while Pushkin medals went to cultural figures from Uzbekistan, Japan, and Kazakhstan.