Austria - Cooperation Agreement between the United Grand Priories and the International Flame of Peace Movement (October 2019)
In mid-October, 2019, in Vienna, Austria, a whirlwind weekend of official engagements were executed in which a delegation from the Supreme Grand Priory of the Order, together with representatives of a number of Grand Priories, finalised the common approach which will be taken by the Order and the International Flame of Peace Movement, which will be fully cemented and attested in the proposed Memorandum of Understanding between the two international organisations during the planned International Lazarite Symposium which will be held during 2020, the latter being the year in which the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Order will be celebrated.
Official engagements related to the Imperial Awarding ceremony held at the Hofburg Imperial Palace, together with a protocol-intensive gala dinner in honour of Prince Albert II of Monaco being given due acknowledgement for his eco-water initiative in the Mediterranean by the Flame of Peace awards under the auspices of the Archduke of Austria Sandor Habsburg-Lothringen and his Lady wife, Archduchess Herta Margarete Habsburg-Lothringen and final meetings at Schonbrunn Palace with distinguished delegates from forty countries in preparation for the International Lazarite Symposium to be held next year jointly with the International Flame of Peace were indeed the order of the day (or weekend!).
The Order was represented by means of its Grand Chancellor and Grand Marshal, whilst deputations from the Grand Priory of Russia, Germany, Malta and Spain also accompanied the Grand Officers. During the investiture service, the Grand Chancellor of the Order, the Chev. Max J Ellul, received the Empress Maria Theresia Cross for philanthropic work in Slovakia and Malta at the Imperial Awarding Ceremony by His Imperial Royal Highness Sandor Habsburg-Lothringen and HIRH Herta Margarete Habsburg-Lothringen.