BRUSSELS – International News – On Monday the Nobel Peace Prize will be awarded to EU Council president Herman Van Rompuy, Commission president José Manuel Barroso and European Parliament president Martin Schulz on behalf of Europe’s 500 million citizens. They will be joined by Ana Vicente, 12, from Spain, Elena Garbujo, 16, from Italy, Ilona Zielkowska, 21, from Poland and Larkin Zahra, 23, from Malta – the winners of an online drawing and writing contest on what peace in Europe means to young people.
The Nobel prize committee said the award to the EU was for 6 decades of work in advancing the causes of peace, reconciliation, democracy and human rights.
President Barroso said the Nobel award is a sign we should cherish the EU for the good of Europeans and for the good of the world.
“The award by the Nobel Committee shows that in these difficult times the European Union remains a force of inspiration for countries and people all over the world and that our global community needs a strong European Union,” he said.
The EU is dedicating the Nobel prize money to humanitarian projects for children who are victims of war and conflicts (matching it, to make a joint sum of €2 million).
“The Nobel Peace Prize stands for reconciliation throughout the world. The prize money should benefit the first hope for the future, but also the first victims of present and past conflicts – children,” president Barroso said.
View the ceremony, celebrate
You will be able to watch the Nobel award ceremony live online or at public screenings across Europe and elsewhere. You can contact the Commission’srepresentative offices in the EU to find out about events in your country, as well as the European Parliament’s information offices.
Copenhagen will hold a torch-light procession on 10 December. In Bratislava, a concert and an exhibition will be organised from 7 to 11 December.
Many of the EU’s overseas offices around the world will host screenings of the ceremony and hold special events. For example the office in La Paz, Bolivia will show the ceremony and staff will later visit a children’s shelter to make a donation.
In New York, the EU office to the UN has arranged for the Empire State Building to be lit up in blue and yellow, the EU’s colours, on 11 December.
You will be able to view the Nobel Peace Prize medal in Brussels at the House of European History, once it is completed.