Ervin Hladnik Milharčič on the Nobel Peace Prize for Barack Obama

In the daily Dnevnik Ervin Hladnik Milharčič comments on the decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize to US President Barack Obama: "The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize has always been a Norwegian affair [the committee that decides the winners is selected by the Norwegian parliament]. The Nobel Peace Prize is normally awarded for practical achievements. It often goes to dissidents who are in conflict with their own societies. This time the prize went to a politician who perhaps didn't want it and who is sorry he has won it. The Norwegians have actively intervened at the top-most levels of world politics. They have redefined the US president. With a heavy dose of irony they have given Obama the status of a dissident rebelling against [republican] Bush politics and the Bush society. At the same time they have played their little games with European politicians, too. … There is no European politician who can attract 200,000 people to the Brandenburg Gate just to hear him deliver a speech. Europe has no leader. This is perhaps even encouraging when it comes to this kind of decision [for the Nobel Peace Prize]. But that Europe doesn't even have a candidate who could be taken seriously for the Nobel Peace Prize is a reason to be angry."

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