With less than an hour to go before the announcement of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, Norwegian politicians are preparing for possible repercussions on relations between the US and Norway if the prize is not awarded to the US president – which is, in fact, the most likely scenario, as DN wrote this Thursday.
The Norwegian Academy categorically stated on Thursday, October 9, that the decision on who would receive the award this year had been taken last Monday, days before Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire, a consequence of a plan presented by the Trump administration.
Given the deadline and the composition of the committee – an independent team of five people, most Nobel experts and Norwegian observers believe that it is highly unlikely that Trump will receive the prize, leading to fears about how Trump will react to being passed over in such a public way.
Kirsti Bergstø, leader of Norway’s Socialist Left Party and foreign policy spokeswoman, said Oslo must be “prepared for anything”, writes The Guardian.
“Donald Trump is taking the US in an extreme direction, attacking freedom of expression, sending secret police, wearing masks, kidnapping people in broad daylight and repressing institutions and courts. When the president is so volatile and authoritarian, of course we have to be prepared for anything”, Bergstø told that British publication.
“The Nobel Committee is an independent body and the Norwegian government has no involvement in the awarding of the prizes. But I’m not sure Trump knows that. We have to be prepared for anything coming from him”, he reinforced.
It’s no secret that Donald Trump openly argues that he should receive the Nobel Peace Prize, an honor that was already granted to one of his predecessors, Barack Obama, in 2009, for his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples”. In July, Trump even called Jens Stoltenberg, Norwegian Finance Minister and former Secretary General of NATO, to ask about the award of the Nobel Prize. Last month at the UN, the US president falsely claimed he had ended seven “endless wars”, telling world leaders: “Everyone says I should get the Nobel Peace Prize.”
Arild Hermstad, leader of Norway’s Green Party, said that the independence of the Nobel committee is precisely what gives credibility to the prize.
“The peace prizes are won through sustained commitment, not through tantrums on social media or intimidation”, he said. “It’s good that Trump supported the recent ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. Any step to end the suffering in Gaza is welcome. But a late contribution does not erase years of violence and division,” highlights.
Columnist and analyst Harald Stanghelle warned that Trump’s retaliation – if it were to occur – It could take the form of tariffs, demands for higher contributions to NATO or even declaring Norway an enemy.
“He [Trump] It’s so unpredictable! I don’t want to use the word ‘fear’, but there is a feeling that it could be a challenging situation,” said the expert. “It’s very, very difficult to explain to Donald Trump or many other countries in the world that this is a totally independent committee, because they don’t respect that kind of independence.”
And he added that, if Trump won, it would be the “biggest surprise in the history of the Nobel Peace Prize”.