OSLO, Norway — A Tunisian democracy group won the Nobel Peace Prize today for its contributions to the first and most successful Arab Spring movement.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee cited the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet “for its decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy” in the North African country following its 2011 revolution.

“It established an alternative, peaceful political process at a time when the country was on the brink of civil war,” the committee said in its citation.

The prize is a huge victory for small Tunisia, whose young and still shaky democracy suffered two extremist attacks this year that killed 60 people and devastated tourism.

The decision came as a surprise to many, with speculation having focused on Europe’s migrant crisis or the Iran-U.S. nuclear deal in July.

European leaders welcomed the prize, with EU commission president tweeting that “after visit to Tunisia in March I understand & respect choice.”

While Tunisia has been much less violent than neighboring Libya or Syria, its transition to democracy has been marred by occasional violence, notably from Islamic extremists.

An attack in June on a beach resort left 38 dead, mostly British tourists. Another in March killed 22 people, mostly tourists.

There were 273 candidates nominated for the 2015 peace prize, five fewer than in 2014. The award capped a week of Nobel announcements, with the winners of the medicine, physics, chemistry and literature awards presented earlier in Stockholm.

The economics award — not an original Nobel — will be reported Monday.