Published 13:35 IST, October 9th 2020
Nobel Peace Prize 2020: Will Donald Trump win this year against Greta Thunberg, WHO?
As the Committee is all set to announce the winner of 2020 Nobel Peace Prize on October 9, speculation around who might claim the award is also growing.
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As the Nobel Prize Committee is all set to announce the winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, which is also considered as one of the world’s most prestigious awards, speculation around who might claim the award is also growing. While two Scandinavian MPs have nominated US President Donald Trump for the prize, there are other contenders who will be considered by the Swedish Academy such as the World Health Organisation (WHO) and climate activist Greta Thunberg.
As per reports, it is expected that the decision of the Committee will be mostly dominated by COVID-19 pandemic along with unprecedented social as well as economic upheaval. The Nobel Prize Committee has said that there are in total 318 candidates for the prestigious award including 211 individuals and 107 organisations. International media reports have quoted experts suggesting that the committee is inclined towards giving the 2020 award to WHO considering its work during the pandemic, just slightly more than Thunberg whose work has echoed across the globe.
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Will Donald Trump win 2020 Nobel Peace Prize?
Amidst all the speculation for this year’s winner, there is heightened curiosity if Donald Trump will win the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize. Since pandemic pushed the roles of independent journalists, organisations, and other activists who worked on the ground for the betterment of others, Trump has touted himself for the prize citing his work in prevailing world peace.
The five-member Norwegian Nobel Committee is reportedly thinking about honouring the United Nations (UN) health agency for the multilateral approach to flatten the curve of novel coronavirus spread, but Donald Trump has criticised WHO on various occasions for its delayed response. However, even though it is not known if WHO was nominated in time, experts reportedly don’t think that Trump can win the Nobel Peace Prize.
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Henrik Urdal, the director of the Peace Research Institute of Oslo, reportedly suggested that Trump ‘is more likely’ to get the 2020 Nobel Prize in literature for his tweets rather than for peace. According to him, the US President has not done anything to deserve the prize, but Trump doesn’t think the same.
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Most recently in a rally in Toledo, Ohio in January 2020, Trump told his audience that 2019 Nobel Peace Prize which is awarded to Abiy Ahmed should have gone to him instead. Earlier in 2018, US president said he deserved the prize for his efforts to persuade the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to give up nuclear weapons.
Now, while talking to Fox News on September 9, Christian Tybring-Gjedde from Norwegia’s Progress Party cited Trump’s work in encouraging peace deal between United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel. According to him, the committee should evaluate the “facts” and not on his behaviour sometimes and confessed that he not a big supporter of the Republican president but “Donald Trump meets the criteria.”
13:36 IST, October 9th 2020