OSLO, Norway (AP) — The Latest on the Nobel Prizes (all times local):
11:25 a.m.
The office of Ethiopia’s prime minister is celebrating his Nobel Peace Prize win and calling on “all Ethiopians and friends of Ethiopia to continue standing on the side of peace.”
The tweet sharing the statement adds jubilantly: “We are proud as a nation!!!”
Abiy Ahmed won after announcing sweeping political reforms that included making peace with longtime rival Eritrea and ending one of Africa’s longest-running conflicts. The 43-year-old also shocked observers by releasing tens of thousands of prisoners and welcoming home once-banned opposition groups.
Ethiopia’s statement adds that “this recognition is a timeless testimony to the ‘medemer’ ideals of unity, cooperation and mutual coexistence that the prime minister has been consistently championing,” using a local term for “unity.”
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11 a.m.
The 2019 Nobel Peace has been awarded to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
Abiy was cited for his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and in particular for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighbouring Eritrea.
Berit Reiss-Andersen, the chairwoman of the five-member Norwegian Nobel Institute that awards the Nobel Peace Prize said Abiy was named for his moves to end his country’s conflict with next door Eritrea within months of coming to office in 2018. He signed a “Joint Declaration of Peace and Friendship,” with Eritrean Prime Minister Isaias Afwerki.
Within the Nobel Peace Prize there is a long history of prizes going to statesmen associated with ending conflicts, most recently Colombia’s Juan Manuel Santos who was awarded the prize in 2016 for helping to bring his country’s 50 year civil war to an end.
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9 a.m.
The prestigious Nobel Peace Prize will be handed out Friday with plenty of speculation about possible winners but no hints from the Nobel committee, which doesn’t reveal the names of candidates or nominations for 50 years.
Names flying around include 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg; Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia; German Chancellor Angela Merkel; and activists in Hong Kong.
The Norwegian Nobel Institute could also choose to acknowledge United Nations’ World Food Program, or the joint leadership of two prime ministers — Greece’s Alexis Tsipras and North Macedonia’s Zoran Zaev — who brought an end to 30 years of acrimony between their nations.
While the other prizes are announced in Stockholm, the Nobel Peace Prize will be awarded in the Norwegian capital, Oslo.