- This year’s Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to human rights advocate Ales Bialiatski from Belarus, as well as two human rights organizations, Memorial in Russia and the Center for Civil Liberties in Ukraine.
- “The peace prize laureates represent civil society in their home countries,” said Berit Reiss-Andersen, the chair of the Norwegian Nobel committee. “They have for many years promoted the right to criticise power and protect the fundamental rights of citizens.”
- The recipients all come from a region still grappling with the legacy of the collapse of the Soviet Union, growing political repression, and the consequences of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
- Russia invaded Ukraine earlier this year and has attempted to annex whole regions from its neighbor. Belarus has sided with Russia in the conflict — even allowing Moscow to stage its forces on its territory.
- The leaders of both Russia and Belarus have suppressed democratic movements at home through a growing web of repressions.
- The prize marks the second year in a row the Nobel committee has turned its attention on the region. Last year, Dmitry Muratov, the editor of Novaya Gazeta, an independent Russian newspaper known for its critical stance on the Kremlin, shared the prize with journalist Maria Rezza of the Phillippines.
Nobel peace prize given to human rights activists in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine
