EUROPEAN UNION WINS 2012 NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

EUROPEAN UNION WINS NOBEL PEACE
PRIZE FOR FOSTERING PEACE, DEMOCRACY

http://ibnlive.in.com - The 2012 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the European Union (EU) for contributing to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe for over six decades. An hour before the official announcement, Norway's NRK public radio had said that the EU will win the award. The prize, worth $1.2 million, will be presented in Oslo on December 10. The decision by the five-member panel, led by Council of Europe Secretary-General Thorbjoern Jagland, was unanimous. “We have had confirmation from people whom we trust who say that it is the EU that will get the prize,” NRK radio had said, an hour before the prize announcement. It is not often that the winner’s name gets leaked in advance. Founded with the Treaty of Rome in 1957 with a community of six nations seeking greater economic integration, the bloc has expanded to 27 including east European states added since the Cold War.

But the EU is mired in crisis with strains on the euro, the common currency shared by 17 nations. The prize was a surprise, especially given the EU's current woes. And many Norwegians are bitterly opposed to the EU, seeing it as a threat to the sovereignty of nation states. Norway, the home of the peace prize, has voted “no” twice to joining the EU, in 1972 and 1994. The country has prospered outside the EU, partly thanks to huge oil and gas resources. The award comes as European unity is being threatened by the debt crisis that has stirred deep tensions between north and south, caused unemployment to soar and sent hundreds of thousands of its citizens into the streets to protest austerity measures. The surprise decision by the Norwegian Nobel Committee prompted a lively discussion online. Posts on Twitter showed that Europeans may be struggling with the constraints of austerity, but they can still loosen their belts to enjoy a belly laugh - or vent their spleen. Some voices even praised the decision. But not many in Norway.

For fostering peace on a continent ravaged by war, the 27-nation European Union won the Nobel Peace Prize. The award was hailed at EU headquarters in Brussels and by pro-EU government leaders. But it was derided by “euroskeptics” who say the EU is an elitist superstate that strips citizens of their rights and erodes national identities. With so many tyrants to resist, so many heroes to support, the Nobel Committee decided to ignore all of that and grant the Nobel Peace Prize to this large bureaucratic political alliance, so many think that the Nobel Committee's decision is a gag and it is a little late for an April Fool’s joke. So, who can bring real peace in this world?

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

The Supreme Lord Krishna Caitanya is at the centre of all spiritual and material phenomena. At that central point harmony shines eternally with her all-beautiful Lord, “the Absolute Truth”. His injunctions are universally true at all times and must be universally relied upon. They are embodied in the Vedas, the Gita, the Upanisads, Srimad-Bhagavatam and other satsastras, which must be accepted as the only evidence in spiritual affairs. Fortunate and blessed persons hear and obey them. They are not intended for any particular sect, caste or creed, but for all beings and all souls, be they animal, human or celestial. These injunctions are not based on partial or apparent truth, but on the absolute or unchallengeable truth. If brought to this platform by the grace of the Almighty, persons of conflicting interests and different sentiments become peaceful and live in eternal association with that Transcendental Being, a life of continuous joy, peace and success in this world and the next.

Śrīla Bhakti Saranga Mahārāja :
“God-realization” - “The Spiritual Guide”
Rays of the Harmonist – Nº 13 Karttika, 2003
http://bvml.org/SBSGM/gr.html

Published by dasavatara das - "Vedic Views on World News"
http://www.vedicviews-worldnews.blogspot.com.ar/