MOSCOW, October 10. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump did not receive the Nobel Peace Prize due to the wish of the European leadership to demonstrate their independence from US policy and the committee's adherence to the "theory of small deeds," Sergey Vasilkovsky, the head of analytics at the P.A. Stolypin Institute for Growth Economics has said, adding that the Peace Prize presentation could have been postponed or even cancelled altogether.
The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to opposition former Venezuelan parliament member Maria Corina Machado. It had been suggested that Trump, who, in his own words, stopped seven wars in less than a year as president of the US, could receive the award.
"The decisions fit into the main context, agenda, and discourse one way or another," the expert said. "First, this is Europe's position on Trump's latest military and political actions concerning Venezuela. Once again, this demonstrates the general attitude of European elites toward the American president himself, not the United States."
Vasilkovsky cited Europe's desire to maintain the status quo as another reason.
"Giving the prize to Trump would have demonstrated a political predisposition and, moreover, dependence on the United States. With this decision, the EU is signaling its chosen path toward independence," he emphasized.
"Third, the decision is in line with how they've been doing things for years, since the committee chose to award prizes for concrete actions after [the 44th US President] Barack Obama [won the award], rather than for abstract ideas. This demonstrates Europe's commitment to the theory of small deeds. The name of the prize itself encapsulates its core meaning: it is awarded for peace, for achievements on the path to international peace, conflict resolution, humanism, and an uncompromising anti-war stance," Vasilkovsky explained.
According to the expert, a strong step and signal would have been to postpone or even cancel the Nobel Peace Prize this year, or symbolically award it to victims of conflict.
"There have been similar precedents in history. Prizes were not awarded during world wars, in 1956, and during the Vietnam War. Following these events, the prize was often awarded to the International Committee of the Red Cross," he concluded.