The award was announced at the European Solidarity Centre in Gdańsk on 13 January and was presented to the Mayor of Michałowo Marek Nazarko at the plenary session of the European Committee of the Regions in Brussels on 8 February.
The award recognises the life-saving support that Michałowo and its population provided to migrants who found themselves stranded between Poland and Belarus after the Polish government in September 2021 imposed a state of emergency in response to Belarus's sponsorship of illegal migration.
The jury also decided to give a special mention to Oleksandr Babich, Mayor of Hola Prystan in the south of Ukraine, who has been held captive since March 2022 for trying to protect his local community.
