The mayors of the Greek island of Lesbos and the Italian island of Lampedusa have won Sweden's Olof Palme Prize for their "inspiring leadership" that has saved the lives of thousands of migrants fleeing from war and terror.
Spyridon Galinos and Giusi Nicolini were on Monday named the winners of this year's prize "for their inspiring leadership in one of the most difficult periods of our time, thereby having saved thousands of lives and given hope and belief in the future".
Together with their citizens, Galinos and Nicolini "opened their minds and societies for fellow human beings fleeing from war, terror, and misery," the Olof Palme Memorial Fund said in a statement.
"In an increasingly dangerous and cruel world they have stressed the humanistic imperative that it is more important to protect people than borders," the statement said.
Galinos and Nicolini will share the 100,000 dollar prize created in 1987 in memory of late Swedish prime minister Olof Palme, who was slain in 1986.
The award ceremony is due to take place on 30 January at the Swedish parliament in Stockholm.
Previous prize winners include Italian writer Roberto Saviano whose work exposed the brutal workings of the Naples mafia (Camorra), Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi and rights group Amnesty International.
Nicolini was elected mayor of the tiny islands of Lampedusa and Linosa in 2012. Galinos has been mayor of Lesbos since 2014.
Lampedusa has received many thousands of people trying to reach Europe from North Africa, while Lesbos is one of the main arrival points for refugees from war-torn Syria and Asia seeking to enter the European Union.
