Country Recipient Date of reception Serie number Decision : number & date Awarded by President Lennart Meri ( 6 October 1992 – 8 October 2001 ) European Union Otto von Habsburg, Member of European Parliament 11.10.1996 30 683 ( 16.02.1996 ) European Union Mr Jacques Delors, former chairman of the European Commission 23.03.1999 78 495 ( 02.02.1999 ) Turkey Bartholomew I Archbishop and Patriarch of Constantinople-New Rome 27.10.2000 130 444 ( 09.10.2000 ) Awarded by H.E. President Arnold Rüütel (8 October 2001 – 9 October 2006) Russia Alexy II of Moscow, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia 29.09.2003 439 444 ( 18.09.2003 ) Spain Juan Antonio Samaranch 29.11.2003 448 464 ( 20.11.2003 ) European Union John Kjær, Head of the Delegation of the European Union (2000–04) 23.11.2004 523 717 ( 12.11.2004 ) European Union Patrick Cox, Former President of European Parliament, for supporting adhesion to European Union 03.11.2006 526 775 ( 02.02.2005 ) European Union Christopher Patten, Former Member of the European Commission, for supporting adhesion to European Union 27.10.2005 527 775 ( 02.02.2005 ) European Union Günter Verheugen, Former Member of the European Commission, for supporting adhesion to European Union 02.05.2005 528 775 ( 02.02.2005 ) Awarded by H.E. President Toomas Hendrik Ilves ( 9 October 2006 – 10 October 2016 ) European Union José Manuel Durão Barroso, President of the European Commission 23.02.2009 855 423 ( 04.02.2009 ) NATO Jakob Gijsbert de Hoop Scheffer 09.07.2009 886 520 ( 06.07.2009 ) European Union Hans-Gert Pöttering ( Germany), President of the European Parliament 23.02.2013 1036 224 ( 06.02.2013 ) United States Vinton Gray Cerf, Computer scientist 28.04.2014 1103 368 ( 05.02.2014 ) Awarded by President Kersti Kaljulaid ( 10 October 2016 – 11 October 2021)