EU wins 2012 Nobel Peace Prize

OSLO: The Nobel Peace Prize was on Friday awarded to the European Union, an institution today wracked by crisis but that is credited with bringing more than half a century of peace to a continent ripped apart by World War II.

The EU and its predecessors "have over six decades contributed to peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights," Nobel Committee president Thorbjoern Jagland said in Oslo.

The head of the European Parliament, German Socialist Martin Schulz, said Friday he felt "deeply touched" and "honoured" at the award of the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize to the European Union.

In a first reaction from one of the three main EU institutions, Schulz said on Twitter: "Deeply touched honoured that the EU has won the Nobel Peace Prize. Reconciliation is what the EU is about. It can serve as inspiration."