MOSCOW, April 2. /TASS/. Members of the European Parliament have nominated American economist, professor and director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University Jeffrey Sachs for the Leo Tolstoy International Peace Prize "for his outstanding contribution to preventing the outbreak of World War III and nuclear catastrophe," according to a letter to the Tolstoy International Peace Prize Foundation, obtained by TASS.
The letter said that the authors of the application for the Tolstoy International Peace Prize, which include Slovak lawmaker Lubos Blaha, German deputy Michael von der Schulenburg and Czech lawmaker Ondrej Dostal, praised Sachs for his "active peacekeeping efforts" as well as his "tireless advocacy for human rights and freedoms."
"As a special advisor to the UN chief from 2002 to 2018, Jeffrey Sachs worked to fight poverty, reduce the debt burden of the poorest countries, and combat the spread of disease in developing countries," the letter pointed out. "Jeffrey Sachs stands out from the crowd of Western theorists, as he has a different stance. Sachs criticizes military support for Ukraine, accusing Western power circles of wanting endless conflicts and NATO of creating tensions," the document emphasized.
Nominations for the Leo Tolstoy International Peace Prize continue to flow in.
About Leo Tolstoy International Peace Prize
The prize is awarded for exceptional contributions related to preventing the outbreak of a third world war; for significant contributions to ensuring global security based on international law, stopping the arms race, building a multipolar and non-violent world; for significant achievements in the demilitarization, democratization and humanization of international relations on the basis of universally recognized moral and legal norms; for active peacekeeping and tireless struggle in defense of human rights and fundamental freedoms; for the promotion of peace and security in the world; and for the promotion of international peace and security.
In 2024, the first Leo Tolstoy International Peace Prize was awarded to the African Union. The award was accepted by African Union Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat from presenter Valery Gergiev, the jury chairman, who also serves as the artistic director of St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theater and the director of Moscow’s Bolshoi Theater.
The international jury consists of prominent public figures from different continents with high moral character who have demonstrated their commitment to the ideas of peace and cooperation among peoples. The members of the jury are citizens of nine BRICS, SCO and G20 countries, including three permanent members of the UN Security Council. They include, among others, French public figure Pierre de Gaulle (France), Vice-President of the Chinese Association for the Study of Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia Wenfei Liu (China), member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress, member of the National Assembly of South Africa Lindiwe Nonceba Sisulu (South Africa).