Nobel Peace Prize to EU: British press pours scorn

Europe's leaders have expressed delight over the awarding of this year's Nobel Peace Prize to the EU and hailed it as a tremendous honour and encouragement for their endeavour to promote unification, amid derision from the British press which called the decision "frivolous".

European Commission President Manuel Barroso said yesterday it is a "tremendous honour" for the European Union to be awarded with the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize.

It is the "strongest possible recognition of the deep political motives behind our union: the unique effort by ever more European states to overcome war and divisions and to jointly shape a continent of peace and prosperity," he said in a statement in Brussels.

The peace prize "is not just for the project and institutions embodying a common interest, but also for around 500 million citizens of the EU," Barroso said.

The Norwegian Nobel Peace Prize Committee announced earlier yesterday in Oslo that the EU was awarded the peace prize in recognition of its "contribution for over six decades to the advancement of peace, reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe."

It appreciated the stabilising part played by the 27-nation bloc that has "helped to transform most of Europe from a continent of war to a continent of peace," the statement said.

Barroso said at its beginning, the European Union brought together nations emerging from the ruins of two devastating World Wars, which originated on this continent and united them in a project for peace.

Over the last 60 years, the EU has united a continent split by Cold War around values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and human rights, he said. These are also the values the EU promotes in order to make the world a better place for all. The EU will continue to promote peace and security in the countries close to it and in the world at large, the commission President said.

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