The European Union (EU) won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for its contribution towards uniting the continent and promoting peace in the last few decades.
Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to those who work most for fraternity between nations, reduction of armed forces and promotion of peace.
"The EU has been a key in transforming Europe "from a continent of wars to a continent of peace," Committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland said while announcing the award in Oslo. "This is a message to Europe to do everything they can to secure what they've achieved and move forward."
He praised the 27-nation EU for rebuilding after World War Two and for its role in spreading stability after the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall, reported Reuters.
The prize comes with a reward of $1.2 million and a five-member panel appointed by the Parliament of Norway selects the winner besides winners of other Nobel Prizes in the field of in Chemistry, Physics, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and Economic Sciences. The prizes will be presented in Oslo on December 10.
Winners of Nobel Prizes 2012
Nobel Price in Physics: Serge Haroche and David J. Wineland for finding ways to measure elusive quantum particles without destroying them.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry: Robert J. Lefkowitz and Brian K. Kobilka "for studies of G-protein-coupled receptors".
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: Sir John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka "for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent".
Nobel Prize in Literature: Mo Yan for his fantastical novels of various genres from folk tales to history to the contemporary.
The winner of Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences has not been announced yet. It will be announced on October 15.
(With Inputs from Reuters)
