During his stay in Italy, Sanader will receive the Vittorino Colombo international prize, which is being awarded for spreading authentic values of politics aimed at solidarity and cooperation among people, the government said in a statement.
The award ceremony will be held on Sunday.
So far, the Vittorino Colombo international prize has been awarded to former UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali, former Czech President Vaclav Havel, former Polish Prime Minister Jerzy Busek and former Vatican State Secretary Angelo Sodano.
On Saturday evening the Croatian PM will give a talk in Milan about Croatia's path to Euro-Atlantic associations.