The judges of the Norwegian Nobel Committee have sometimes displayed an unusual sense of timing when it comes to the award of the annual Peace Prize. In 2009, the committee caused controversy when it awarded the honour to Barack Obama after he had been less than a year in office. Its decision to award the Peace Prize to the EU provokes a similar debate about whether this is the right moment. Today the EU is mired in crisis, with economic and social turmoil raging through Greece and Spain, much of it inflamed by the eurozone’s debt problems. The immediate reaction of many to this award will therefore be one of surprise. The image that the EU projects today is hardly one of “peace”.
在衡量年度诺贝尔和平奖时，挪威诺贝尔委员会(Norwegian Nobel Committee)的委员们表现出的时间感，有时显得不太寻常。2009年该委员把年度和平奖颁给了巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)，当时他就任美国总统还不到一年，结果引发了争议。今年它把和平奖颁给欧盟(EU)，引发了时机选择是否得当的类似辩论。欧盟目前正陷入危机不能自拔，manbetx20客户端下载 和社会动荡席卷希腊和西班牙两国，大部分国家都受到欧元区债务问题的困扰。所以，很多人当即表示，欧盟获得诺贝尔和平奖多少有些出人意料。欧盟今天的形象很难说是“和平”。