Le Prix Nobel de la Paix pour l’Europe

Infographie : F. Descheemaekere

A Nobel for the Continent

[The New York Times]

Perhaps we should congratulate the European Union for winning the Nobel Peace Prize and let it go at that. It is not, after all, unusual for the Norwegian committee to select an organization rather than an individual, and the E.U. surely satisfies Alfred Nobel’s criteria of forging fraternity between nations, reducing standing armies, and holding and promoting peace congresses.

There is no question that the E.U. has come to symbolize the transformation of a continent mired for centuries in war to one that has embraced peace and human rights. And by opening its doors to newly liberated members of the Soviet bloc, the E.U. certainly helped to break down the division of East and West. But when the Norwegian Nobel Committee selects the E.U. for a peace prize just when Europe is going through a major and potentially destructive crisis, it is obvious that, once again, the Norwegians have chosen to send a political message. Thorbjorn Jagland, the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, acknowledged as much in a news conference:
“We want to remind us all what can happen if disintegration starts and if we let extremism and nationalism start growing again in Europe.”

Lire : nytimes.com