BRUSSELS — The European Parliament awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, Europe’s most prestigious human rights award, to the democratic opposition in Venezuela on Thursday.

The announcement, made by Antonio Tajani, the Parliament’s president, before a plenary session in Strasbourg, France, was repeatedly interrupted by applause.

“Today we are supporting a nation’s freedom to struggle,” Mr. Tajani said. “We hereby express our full support for the National Assembly of Venezuela, the only democratically elected Parliament.”

For several years, Venezuela, an oil-producing nation, has been going through a harsh economic crisis as energy prices have dropped. President Nicolás Maduro’s government has also led a crackdown on opposition parties, their leaders and their supporters as part of a plan to consolidate power.