Today, the EU will receive the Nobel Peace Prize in a move that has everyone talking. While accepting the prize on Monday in Oslo, Norway, the three presidents of the EU’s main bodies will represent the entire EU for, as the Norwegian Nobel Committee has explained it, “for over six decades contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe.”
Thee of the Nobel laureates actually called the award “unlawful” on a protest latter in November, saying that the Union doesn’t really qualify as a peacemaker as defined by Alfred Nobel.
The prize money that the EU receives ($1.2 million) will support educational projects for children in conflict areas. The EU plans to add to this sum as well to more than double it.
The EU was picked this year from 231 nominations including 43 for organizations and the rest for individuals. Other large organizations that have won the prize include the UN, Doctors Without Borders, the UN peacekeeping forces and the International Campaign to Ban Landmines.
