Daily Times

From NATO secretary general to the Ukrainian president, the war in Ukraine dominates the names known so far to have been submitted by Tuesday’s deadline for the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize. The list of nominees submitted to the committee is kept secret for at least 50 years, in line with Nobel statutes. But those eligible to nominate people — including former laureates, lawmakers and cabinet ministers from any country in the world, and some university professors — are free to reveal the name of the person or organisation they have proposed. Most of the names that have been publicly disclosed so far are actors in the nearly year-long conflict that has been raging in Ukraine, or opponents of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Experts warn that the Norwegian Nobel Committee may be tempted to look in another direction, however, when it announces this year’s prize in October. Others known to have been nominated include Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, proposed by the chairman of Pakistan’s upper house of parliament, for his “untiring” efforts to resolve the Ukrainian crisis. Lawmaker Christian Tybring-Gjedde, from Norway’s populist party, hinted on Facebook shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24 that he would nominate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.