Moscow - The State Duma is surprised by the decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize to the European Union.
“It’s unexpected and non-standard, to put it mildly,” Leonid Slutsky,
deputy speaker of PACE and co-chairman of the State Duma committee on
CIS affairs, told reporters.
Slutsky called the decision made by the Nobel Committee a strange
move,” saying that “peacekeeping is a secondary aspect of EU
activities.”
“The EU is primarily an economic and political integration institution, and peacekeeping plays a secondary role there,” he said.
The parliamentarian said he would not speak about “large peacekeeping actions coordinated by the EU.”
“This gesture is, no doubt, complimentary, if not political.
Apparently someone related to the decision-making process in the Nobel
Committee has decided to make a goodwill gesture to Brussels,” Slutsky
said.
According to earlier report, the EU has been awarded the 2012 Nobel
Peace Prize. The award was given for its historical role in uniting
Europe.
