Tjeerd Royaards is the winner of the European Cartoon Award 2025
The Hague, NL (December 12, 2025) Live from the Central Library of The Hague, the European Cartoon Award, one of the most prestigious awards for political cartoons published in Europe, announced the names of its Winner, Runners-up and Honourable Mention.
The first prize was awarded to the Dutch cartoonist Tjeerd Royaards, for his work published in the Dutch outlet Trouw. The two Runners-up are cartoonists Emad Hajjaj (Jordan) and Zehra Ömeroğlu (Turkey). An Honourable Mention was awarded to Patrick Chappatte (Switzerland).
Tjeerd Royaards’s cartoon,
published by Trouw,
comments on Netanyahu’s campaign of violence against Palestinians.
Together with the other winning works, Tjeerd’s cartoon was selected from the 15 nominees (available below), who were chosen from almost 400 submissions coming from more than 30 countries, Europe, and beyond.
The cartoons of the two runners-up, Emad Hajjaj (published in the Dutch outlet Cartoon Movement) and Zehra Ömeroğlu (published on the French television France24), respectively comment on the difficult state of negotiations for peace worldwide and on women’s rights, following the Gisele Pelicot trial.
Runners-up: Emad Hajjaj & Zehra Ömeroğlu
Emad Hajjaj
Zehra Ömeroğlu
"This year’s winning cartoon is a striking metaphor of the recklessness violence, and of the impunity, of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his crusade against Palestinians. Royaard’s cartoon is hard to look at, but we must look, as we must not cover our eyes and ears when faced with this violence. Hajjaj and Ömeroğlu’s cartoons complete this year’s picture, telling us about the many peace-making deals that didn’t really bring peace, and about the rights of women, which are always under siege. I am very proud of the work done by the ECA’s jurors and by all the cartoonists."
One Honourable Mention
The jury decided to award one Honourable Mention, to Patrick Chappatte for a cartoon published in the Swiss newspaper Le Temps.
Honourable Mentions: Patrick Chappatte
Announced during the ECA ‘Cartoons Day’ 2025
The winners of the ECA 2025 were announced during the Award Ceremony held at the Bibliotheek Den Haag. The Ceremony was part of the ECA ‘Cartoons Day’, a one-day event entirely dedicated to editorial cartoons organised with the support of the Municipality of The Hague, the Stimuleringsfonds voor de Journalistiek, Sound & Vision and the European Heritage Label.
Experts, activists, artists and cartoonists sat together with over one hundred attendees of the ‘Cartoons Day’ in the rooms of the Bibliotheek Den Haag for several workshops and panels.
At the close of the afternoon sessions, the Award Ceremony commenced. Before presenting the awards, Emanuele Del Rosso, Head of the European Cartoon Award, was joined on stage by Saskia Bruines, Deputy Mayor for Media Affairs of The Hague. On stage was also Jordanian cartoonist Emad Hajjaj, who talked with journalist Janet Anderson about the difficulties of the profession and how he draws the war against Palestinians waged by the Israeli government.
After the Award Ceremony, an exhibition showcasing the 40 longlisted works of the ECA 2025 was inaugurated on the second floor of the library.
THE ECA 2025 SHORTLIST
ECA 2025 Shortlist:
Arend van Dam (Friesch Dagblad, NL), Ella Baron (The Guardian, UK), Emad Hajjaj (Cartoon Movement, NL), Gezienus Bruining (De Twentsche Courant Tubantia, NL), Niels Bo Bojesen (Jyllands-Posten, DK), Patrick Chappatte (Le Temps, CH), Plop & KanKr (Sine Mensuel, FR), Raimundo Rucke Souza (Cartoon Movement, NL), Shahrokh Heidari (Cartoon Movement, NL), Taravat Niki (Cartoon Movement, NL), Tjeerd Royaards (Trouw, NL), Tomas Serrano (El Español, SP), Uno Mino (Cartoon Movement, NL), Zehra Ömeroğlu (France24, FR), Zez Vaz (Público, PT).
The 2025 Panel of judges
The jury for the 2025 edition consisted of: the winner of the European Cartoon Award 2024, Steven ‘Lectrr’ Degryse, from Belgium; Dutch philosopher Stine Jensen (Chair), from Denmark; Dutch cartoonist Jip van den Toorn; and academic and activist Akudo McGee.
About the European Cartoon Award
The European Cartoon Award was founded by the European Press Prize and Studio Europa Maastricht in 2019 – the year in which the New York Times decided to stop running editorial cartoons altogether – and joined by Sound & Vision in 2024. We award courage and quality in the field of political cartooning and foster conversation on the topic of Europe.
Cartoons are an important part of an open debate, of questioning both old ideas and introducing new ones. Yet, more than any other form of journalism, political cartoons are feeling the strain of the shrinking space for freedom of expression.
To encourage cartoonists to continue their essential task, we have launched the European Cartoon Award, worth in total €10,000.
The European Cartoon Award is made possible by a number of foundations and organisations that strive to encourage political cartoons in Europe: Municipality of The Hague, Stimuleringsfonds voor de Journalistiek, Bibliotheek Den Haag and European Heritage Label.
For information on the ECA, visit www.europeancartoonaward.com
For inquiries about the European Cartoon Award exhibition and cartoons, contact emanuele@europeancartoonaward.com
