Many had thought the award would go to human rights activists in Russia this year. But on Friday, the Norwegian Nobel Committee honored the European Union with this year’s peace prize for its contribution “to the advancement of peace and reconciliation” in Europe.
The list of candidates for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize was long, ranging from outsiders such as Helmut Kohl and Bill Clinton to favorites like Russian human rights activist Ludmilla Alexeeva or the protesting monks of Burma.
In the end, however, nobody won. An organization did. At 11:00 sharp local time, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced that the European Union would be honored with the 2012 prize. The prize committee said that the EU had been chosen for its 60-year-long contribution “to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe.”
Nobel committee chairman Thorbjørn Jagland added: “The stabilizing part played by the European Union has helped to transform a once torn Europe from a continent of war to a continent of peace.”
The EU had long been considered one of the favorites for the prize, particularly given the Nobel’s tradition of periodically honoring organizations instead of individuals. Other organizations that have recently received the award include the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2007 and the International Atomic Energy Agency in 2005. The International Committee of the Red Cross has won three times.
Spiegel has the full article
