STOCKHOLM, February 13. /TASS/. The Ewald von Kleist Award of the Munich Security Conference has been awarded of Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and former Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, as well as to Finnish President and Prime Minister, Sauli Niinisto and Sanna Marin, as "leading personalities in security politics who have made an outstanding contribution to international understanding and conflict resolution," the Swedish government said on Monday.

"We would like to honor your countries' historic, responsible, and coordinated decision to apply for NATO membership and bolster the Alliance's resilience in the face of Russia's brutal and unjustified aggression against Ukraine. This decision and the process leading up to it - taking along the public and crossing party lines - serve as outstanding examples of the type of leadership we need in this ‘Zeitenwende’, this watershed moment. Swedish, European, and transatlantic security shall emerge stronger from the present crisis thanks to your political achievement and dedication," the government cited the awarding motivation.

The award for efforts toward peace and conflict resolution that was established in honor of Ewald von Kleist, the organizer of the first conference in Munich in 1963, in 2009. Among its winners are former German Chancellors Helmut Kohl and Angela Merkel, former French President Valery Giscard d’Estaing, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.