Valladolid, Spain - Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Friday congratulated US President Barack Obama for winning the Nobel Peace Prize, saying he "deserved" it.

Tsvangirai, who had himself been tipped for the Nobel, was speaking in the Spanish city of Valladolid, where received a lifetime achievement award from the Cristobal Gabarron Foundation.

The foundation lauded Tsvangirai as "a statesman for history who "launched to the world from Africa a message of reconciliation and fight for democracy."

On Thursday, Tsvangirai met with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos in Madrid.

Zapatero promised to help Zimbabwe step up its dialogue with the European Union during Spain's EU presidency in the first half of 2010. (dpa)