Activists file Putin’s candidacy for Nobel Peace Prize

Vladimir Putin (Reuters / Alexei Nikolsky / Ria Novosti / Pool)

A group of Russian activists and political scientists told a news conference on Tuesday that they intend to officially propose President Putin for Nobel Peace Prize as recognition of his efforts to resolve the Syrian conflict.

One of the main sponsors of the move, State Duma MP Iosif Kobzon, told reporters that in his view Putin deserved the prize much more than the 2009 laureate, US President Barack Obama.

“Barack Obama is the man who has initiated and approved the United States’ aggressive actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, now he is preparing for an invasion into Syria. He bears this title nevertheless. Our president, who tries to stop the bloodshed and who tries to help the conflict situation with political dialogue, is in my view more worthy of this high title,” the Interfax news agency quoted Kobzon as saying.

Another supporter of Putin’s candidacy, Vice-President of the International Academy of Spiritual Unity and Cooperation Beslan Kobakhiya also stressed Putin’s role in the attempts to settle the Syrian crisis, adding that the Russian president was proving his loyalty to the peace cause by personal example and by real-life practice.

The head of the International Academy of Spiritual Unity and Cooperation, Georgy Trapeznikov, noted that the move to propose Putin for the world’s highest peacekeeping award was also caused by the fact that the Russian President had played a key role in peacekeeping processes in many regions inside the Russian Federation.

The official letter containing the request was sent to the Nobel Prize Committee on September 16 and received by this body on September 20, Trapeznikov reported.

Vladimir Putin has not discussed the possible proposal for Nobel Peace Prize with any people or groups, the presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov told the ITAR-TASS news agency after the press conference.

Peskov has earlier noted that the possibility of receiving awards and prizes had little influence upon Putin’s work and decisions.

“The main criterion for the president is his satisfaction from the results of his work,” Peskov said.

Putin has already been proposed for the Nobel Peace Prize by the president of the All-Russian Education Fund, Sergey Komkov, who also wrote in his letter to the Nobel Committee that the Russian leader “was applying maximum effort for maintaining peace, not only on the territory of his own country, but also actively supports the peaceful settlement of all conflicts on the planet.”

The Nobel Peace Prize, awarded by the special committee in accordance with the testament of Swedish inventor and industrial magnate Alfred Nobel, is given annually to persons or organizations for the most notable input into the unity of nations, reduction of armies and assistance to peace processes.

The official submission of nominations should be done by members of the Nobel Committee, parliaments and governments, members of some international bodies and also professors of law, history or philosophy and the existing laureates of the Nobel Peace Prize. The last day of nomination for candidates is February 1. The laureate is announced the next year on October 12.

The prize was awarded to Russian citizens twice in history – in 1975 it was received by academician Andrey Sakharov and in 1990 by the President of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev. Last year the prize was controversially awarded to the European Union.