OSLO, Norway, October 9, 2009 (ENS) - The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 is to be awarded to President Barack Obama "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." The Committee attached special importance to Obama's vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons and to his work in meeting the challenge of global warming.
"Obama has as President created a new climate in international politics," the Nobel Prize Committee said in its announcement of the Peace Prize award today. "Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play."
President Barack Obama announces he will accept the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. Oct. 9, 2009. (Video image courtesy The White House)
"Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts," the Committee said.
"The vision of a world free from nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations. Thanks to Obama's initiative, the USA is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting," said the Committee. "Democracy and human rights are to be strengthened."
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