Italian racing club honors Gorbachev, Reagan

An Italian automobile club's fund, dedicated to 'high ethical and moral values,' held a ceremony on Friday morning at which Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan were honored for ending the Cold War.

The Club Mille Miglia's Franco Mazzotti Foundation's annual award recognizes individuals who have brought a "significant advantage to all humanity". The ceremony was presided over by the head of the foundation, former racing driver Giannino Marzotto.

The Soviet Union's last leader, who was not present at the prize-giving in the northern Vicenza province, was chosen for "committing himself more than anyone else to putting an end to the Cold War between the west and the east."

The head of the Gorbachev Foundation in Italy, Marzio Dallagiovanna, received the award on Gorbachev's behalf.

Reagan was honored posthumously for his "courage to reach out a hand to the Soviet leader in difficulty" and his role in bringing down the Iron Curtain to "open up a new era."

The foundation also awarded a prize to Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus and a posthumous award to Giovanni Canestrini, founder of the Mille Miglia endurance race, held between 1927 and 1957.

The Mille Miglia Club calls itself "an associative structure which is deep-rooted in the past and strongly determined and capable of looking ahead to future challenges with courage and vitality."

Russian Information Agency Novosti,  23.05.2009