The Nobel Peace Prize comes under the shadow of the war in Ukraine

Among the favorites to receive the Nobel Peace Prize are defenders of Human Rights as opposed to Moscow and similar governments

The Peace Nobel will recognize this Friday the work of the person or organization that will succeed the journalists in the list of winners Maria Resa Y Dimitri Moratov, In a year marked by ukrainian war and for its collateral effects throughout the world.

The nomination process was completed on January 31, before the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, give the order to begin the invasion of the neighboring country on February 24. Among the favorites, defenders of Human Rights sound again as opposed to Moscow and related governments.

The director of the Oslo Peace Research Institute (PRIO), Henrik Urdal, places the Belarusian opponent at the head of her private pool Svetlana Tijanovskaya, main dissident to the regime Alexander Lukashenko, and also to Alexei Navalny, currently incarcerated in Russia.

“So much Tijanovskaya What Navalni They are prominent critics of Russian invasion of Ukraine. A prize Peace Nobel shared by both would be seen as a clear protest against Russian aggression and the assistance provided by Belarus and as a support for democratic and non-violent alternatives to Lukashenko Y Putin»has argued Urdal in a recent statement.

Zelensky as a candidate

Almost 40 European politicians vindicated in March in a joint letter to the Norwegian Committee to reopen the period for registering candidacies to incorporate the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, in an appeal that, however, the director of the Stockholm International Peace Studies Institute (SIPRI) does not support, Dan Smith.

Smith recalled that “perhaps” in the coming years Zelensky it may be an option, “if it brings peace to the country”, but not on this occasion. “The war continues and that is a fact,” he explained, in an interview with Europa Press in which he raised some other options for the laureate.

The head of SIPRI has admitted that, while other years «it is difficult to know who will get the prize Peace Nobel because there are many very good candidates”, in 2022 “there has not been much peace”. He does not rule out that the Norwegian Committee take into account the factor Ukraine, but he does anticipate that it will not be rewarding a politician as prominent as Zelensky.

Possible recognition for the IAEA

A possibility “linked to the war of Ukraine” would be, in his opinion, to recognize the work of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), who has campaigned for non-proliferation and has worked on the ground to prevent a nuclear disaster at plants such as those at Chernobyl either Zaporizhia, the latter still occupied militarily.

The agency already received the award in 2005, but this would not be an impediment according to the regulations of the awards. For example, him International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), for example, he has received the award three times.

Smith also matches Urdal in his pool by singling out peaceful dissidents like Tijanovskaya, in recognition of the “democratic opposition” to Lukashenko and to the fact that, if he had consummated his victory in the 2020 elections, “perhaps the situation would be very different.” recognize to Tijanovskaya, explains the director of SIPRI, it would mean rewarding “an ally for peace”.

Other options

Smith introduces environmental activists as a third way, without giving names. The young Swedish Greta Thunberg has been a recurring presence in bookmakers over the last few years, but traditionally the Nobel Prize usually rewards several people when it comes to focusing on such a global challenge as climate change.

For his part, the director of the PRIO adds, together with Tijanovskaya and Navalni, to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), a symbol of peaceful conflict resolution, as well as to Indian activism represented by Harsh Mander and the Karwan-e-Mohabbat campaign, if the Norwegian Committee wanted to recognize on this occasion the fight against religious extremism.

Another option is to place China again at the center of the target, rewarding the Uyghur economist Ilham Tohti or the Hong Kong activists Agnes Chow and Nathan Law, while Urdal raises the potential recognition of the Data Analysis Group as a fifth option. of Human Rights (HRDG) and the NGO CANVAS, which advocates non-violent resistance.

More than 340 candidates

For the 2022 edition, 342 applications have been submitted, of which 251 correspond to individuals and 92 to organizations. The rules of this prestigious award do not establish any limit when it comes to proposing candidates, which is why dictators such as Adolf Hitler or Benito Mussolini have come to appear in the list of options.

It is up to the members of the Committee to discriminate between the long list of candidates, who in 2022 have reached the second highest figure in history, only behind the record of 376 that was reached in the 2016 edition. The names are secret until after 50 years, but disclosure by nominees is not prohibited.

The winner will receive 10 million crowns (more than 917,000 euros), usually redirected to the cause recognized by the Norwegian Committee. Muratov, Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2021, even decided to auction the medal that accompanies the award to donate the money collected to children displaced by the conflict in Ukraine.