A display of peace and unity

European Union leaders flocked to Oslo this week for the Nobel Peace Prize award for 2012

In a carefully staged display of unity, the presidents of the European Union’s three main institutions received the Nobel Peace Prize for 2012 for the Union’s role in securing six decades of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe.

At a ceremony at Oslo’s city hall on Monday (10 December), Martin Schulz, the president of the European Parliament, accepted the prize medal from Thorbjørn Jagland, the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel committee and secretary-general of the Council of Europe. Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council, and José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, held up the award document standing next to Schulz.

The three officials were joined by four young Europeans, aged 12 to 23, selected in an online drawing and writing contest: Ana Vicente from Spain, Elena Garbujo from Italy, Ilona Zielkowska from Poland and Larkin Zahra from Malta.

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“What this continent has achieved is truly fantastic, from being a continent of war to becoming a continent of peace,” Jagland said in his speech, explaining the choice of the EU as this year’s laureate. “In this process, the European Union has figured most prominently. It therefore deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.” But Jagland also made it clear that the award was not made for historical reasons only. “Together we must ensure that we do not lose what we have built on the ruins of the two world wars,” he said.

Van Rompuy and Barroso then proceeded to give their speeches, with Schulz and some 20 EU leaders looking on. “The presence of so many European leaders here today underlines our common conviction: that we will come out of this together, and stronger,” Van Rompuy said. “Strong enough in the world to defend our interests and promote our values. We all work to leave a better Europe for the children of today and those of tomorrow. So that, later, others might turn and judge: that generation, ours, preserved the promise of Europe.”

Barroso, after witnessing the end to dictatorship in his native Portugal in 1974, said: “From pooling coal and steel to abolishing internal borders, from six countries to soon 28, with Croatia joining the family, this has been a remarkable European journey which is leading us to an ‘ever-closer Union’.

“And today, one of the most visible symbols of our unity is in everyone’s hands,” Barroso said. “It is the euro, the currency of our European Union. We will stand by it.” Barroso said: “Our quest for European unity is not a perfect work of art; it is work in progress that demands constant and diligent tending. It is not an end in itself, but a means to higher ends.”

Jagland stressed the centrality of French-German relations to Europe’s peace. “The reconciliation between Germany and France is probably the most dramatic example in history to show that war and conflict can be turned so rapidly into peace and co-operation,” he said. “The presence here today of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President François Hollande makes this day particularly symbolic.” Merkel and Hollande, seated next to each other, stood up as the audience applauded.

The three speeches made reference to a range of statesmen and thinkers, from Herodotus, a Greek historian who lived some 25 centuries ago, to Winston Churchill, Konrad Adenauer and Helmut Kohl. But no reference was made to the contribution of the United States to peace and prosperity in Europe.

Most leaders from the EU’s 27 member states attended the ceremony in Oslo, Norway’s capital. Among the absentees were David Cameron, Britain’s prime minister; President Václav Klaus and Prime Minister Petr Nec?as from the Czech Republic; Jean-Claude Juncker, the prime minister of Luxembourg; and Demetris Christofias, the president of Cyprus, the current holder of the rotating presidency of the EU’s Council of Ministers.

The leaders of Malta, Slovenia and Slovakia were also absent. Frederik Reinfeldt, Sweden’s prime minister, was in Stockholm at the award ceremony for the other Nobel awards.

The EU will match the prize money of close to €1 million and donate it to humanitarian projects for children.