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FYROMΑλέξης ΤσίπραςΖόραν ΖάεβPrime Minister of FYROMGreek Prime MinisterPrespes agreementname dealNobel Peace PrizeAlexis Tsipras and Zoran Zaev among the favourites for the Nobel Peace Prize, say Swedsh media
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Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and FYROM Prime Minister Zoran Zaev are among the favourites to become nominees for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, said Wiktor Nummellin, the Swedish TT news agency’s special correspondent for Nobel Prizes, on Monday in an interview with the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA).
“It is hard to say who is nominated and who is not nominated, because that is half secret, but they have been mentioned for the Prize,” he said and added: “Every year there is a lot of speculation and discussion about who will get the Peace Prize and what kind of area they would like to put attention to. This year they are talking a lot about the Korean peninsula, they are talking about the refugee situation, the situation between Greece and ‘Macedonia’ with the negotiations.”
Nummellin underlined that a lot of people in the Peace Prize Committee would think that is a kind of perfect Peace Prize. “It would be a perfect Peace Prize to give it for instance to the prime ministers of both countries or someone else who has been negotiating,” he stated.
“They really like the situation when people have been negotiating, they are coming to an agreement, putting it on the table, instead of trying to solve a war crisis or sanctions,” he explained.
However, with the situation yesterday, when there was not enough people voting, that of course makes it more difficult, he added. Moreover, sometimes they really need to see the impact before something is done. But nothing is impossible.
The full interview of Wiktor Nummellin follows:
– The Swedish news agency TT reported that Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and US President Donald Trump may be nominated for the Nobel Prize. What are the main reasons?
– They are among the favourites at least. It is hard to say who is nominated and who is not nominated, because that is half secret, but they have been mentioned for the Prize. Every year there is a lot of speculation and discussion about who will get the Peace Prize and what kind of area they would like to put attention to. This year they are talking a lot about the Korean peninsula, they are talking about the refugee situation, the situation between Greece and ‘Macedonia’ with the negotiations. I know that for a lot of people in the Peace Prize Committee, they would think that is a kind of perfect Peace Prize. They really like a situation when people have been negotiating, they are coming to an agreement, putting it on the table, instead of trying to resolve a war crisis or sanctions. So I think in that way it would be a perfect peace prize to give it for instance to the prime ministers of both countries or someone else who has been negotiating. However, with the situation yesterday, when there were not enough people voting, that of course makes it more difficult.
– So you think that the low participation in the FYROM referendum could affect the decision?
– I think so. But I am not sure. Two years ago everyone was talking about the President of Colombia taking the Peace Prize. And he had a referendum just two weeks before the Peace Prize and he lost. So everyone thought that he will not have a chance to get the Peace Prize and they still gave it to him. So, nothing is impossible. But, I would probably guess in the committee that they will say that maybe it is too early, maybe we should wait to see what happens, if the situation is the same. You can never know. It is hard to say. Sometimes they really need to see the impact before something is done. But nothing is impossible.
– The nominations end in February and the Prespes Agreement was signed in June. Do you think that this may affect the decision?
– The people in the committee also have the possibility to raise further new questions, even before a couple of days. They have a special way of nominating. But the public nominations have to be done in February. It is a question up to the committee. Anyway, there were already discussions early this year about something happening. I haven’t seen anyone publicly stating that they have nominated either Tsipras or Zaev.
– In general what are the criteria for someone in order to be nominated?
– Actually anyone could be nominated. People sitting in parliament, academies of science, former peace winners. But to be nominated there are absolutely no rules. Anyone can be nominated. But realistically if you have not done a job in peace negotiations or arms counselling or helping refugees then you cannot be optimistic. But of course look at the case of Barack Obama who was basically nominated for having his campaign, a policy campaign, in the US elections ten years ago.
Source: AMNA