Moscow Helsinki Group chairman regrets that Nobel Peace Prize went to EU

Lyudmila Alekseyeva, the head of the Moscow Helsinki Group, believes the decision to award the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize to the European Union was wrong.

"If it were awarded to political prisoners in Iran, it would be clearer to me. I wonder how they will photograph the EU as a Nobel Prize winner and how they will give this prize to the EU," Alekseyeva told Interfax on Friday.

Alekseyeva and another Russian human rights activist, Svetlana Gannushkina, were among the persons nominated for Nobel Peace Prize 2012.

"Don't think I am saying this because I am hurt. It's a comment from a sensible person. First they give the Nobel Prize to Obama, then to the European Union, and public figures in all countries get bored. Who's next? Maybe the Shanghai Cooperation Organization?" Alekseyeva said.

Alekseyeva said it would have been right to give the Nobel Prize to some Russian human rights activist or public figure.

"Our movement is almost half a century old. It developed in very difficult conditions. The Andrei Sakharov Award [awarded by the European Parliament] was once colossal moral support. The Norwegian Nobel Committee could have played the same role. Unfortunately, it didn't," Alekseyeva said.