AJC Applauds Nobel Recognition of European Union Role in Advancing Peace

NEW YORK, Oct. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- American Jewish Committee (AJC), the global Jewish advocacy organization, congratulates the European Union (EU) on receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.

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"The European integration project, originally conceived by such visionaries as Robert Schumann and Jean Monet, is the most ambitious and successful peace project in modern history," said AJC Executive Director David Harris, who, in speeches and writings, has long lauded the historic development of the European Union.

"The entire European continent has been significantly and irrevocably transformed since the darkest days of World War II, and the EU has been key to promoting and protecting democracy and human dignity, including in countries where those core values had too often been absent," Harris added.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced today that the EU will be honored with the Nobel Peace Prize for 2012 in recognition of more than six decades of contributions "to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe."

The Nobel Committee observed that war between such countries as France and Germany is unthinkable, that the fall of the Berlin Wall opened a new era, making possible EU membership for several Central and Eastern European countries, and advanced reconciliation in the Balkans. "The stabilizing part played by the EU has helped to transform most of Europe from a continent of war to a continent of peace," the Nobel Committee said.

AJC has been deeply involved with Europe since the end of World War II. AJC maintains offices in Brussels, Europe's capital, as well as in Berlin, Paris and Rome among EU member states, and association agreements with several EU Jewish communities.  AJC travels to EU member states regularly, meeting frequently with political officials, representatives of civil society, and leaders of Jewish communities.

SOURCE American Jewish Committee