(NewsGlobal.com)- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, along with the entire population of Ukraine, has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. It comes as Russia continues its unprovoked military invasion of the country, and as Zelenskyy refuses to leave the country as his soldiers fight back against the Russians.
The Nobel Peace Prize is a prize awarded to individuals or groups and organizations that achieve something notorious and significant in terms of establishing peace or defending freedom. It is one of five Nobel Prizes established by the estate of the late Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel.
Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people were nominated after former Dutch Parliamentarian Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Member of European Parliament Karin Karlsbro, and three dozen other current and former European legislators put pressure on the Norwegian Nobel Committee to put them on the list.
In a letter sent on March 11, the current and former legislators described the shock that the world experienced when Russia invaded Ukraine and referenced the millions of families who have been forced to leave their homes and lives.
“We are witness to the courage of the people of Ukraine withstanding this war waged upon them by the Russian Federation,” the letter reads, before describing the men and woman of Ukraine as “brave” for fighting the Russians.
President Zelenskyy was also praised for his defiance.
“From the defiance democratically elected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the man with tears in his eyes saying goodbye to his family to fight for his country, people all over Ukraine are rising up to resist the forces of authoritarianism,” the letter reads.
The nomination was extremely powerful…but there is one problem. The deadline already passed by the time they were nominated. The letter asked the committee to re-open the nominating procedure which ended in January, to allow for the official nomination of both Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people. However, it was just too late.
Some 343 nominations were received before the deadline passed, and the prize was eventually awarded to Filipino journalist Maria Ressa, and Dmitry Muratov, the editor-in-chief of Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta.
