Skvernelis was awarded for reviving relations between Lithuania and Poland and for close cooperation between the two neighboring countries.
The forum’s organizers emphasized joint energy and transport projects as they presented the award.
“I believe this is an extraordinary day both for me personally and for our state. One can talk a lot about relations between countries and governments and do nothing. Our states had a period of several hundred years of common challenges, decisions, work and common successes, and then there was a period when we were apart and our foes took advantage of disagreements between us,” Skvernelis said during the awards ceremony.
“Having a good neighbor is much better than having a good relative,” he added.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called Skvernelis “a good friend”, saying that they were keeping in touch with each other.
“He often sends me a text message in Polish,” Morawiecki said, adding that he hoped to send back at least a sentence in Lithuanian some day.
The Krynica forum, sometimes referred to as the “Eastern Davos”, is an annual meeting of Central and Eastern European economic and political elite held in early September since 1992.