Mario Draghi, the former Italian prime minister and ex-head of the European Central Bank, is to receive the prestigious International Charlemagne Prize for services to European unity, organizers said on Saturday.
The prize’s board of directors praised the 78-year-old for having “achieved great things for Europe with purpose and unwavering determination.”
Previous recipients of the award, handed out by the western German city of Aachen since 1950, include Winston Churchill, pope Francis and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen took home the award in 2025.
The prize is named after Charlemagne (748-814), whose empire extended over a large part of Western Europe. He often resided in Aachen, which is located near what is now Germany’s border with Belgium and the Netherlands.