I think NATO and the Soviet Union were relatively effective as mutual deterrents. Perhaps not without a price for those who suffered under Soviet influence, though.

I didn't say that NATO alone has united Europe and kept the peace, but I'm quite confident that it has played a very important part.

Well, we could always leave them to rot and not help them.

Fact of the matter is, they ran a joke of a finance system for years, and now the excesses of the Greek tax system are now being paid for by the German taxpayer. Tax evasion was rampant in Greece and now it's brought the economy to its knees.

If I lend an unemployed guy €500 to keep him going while he gets his affairs in order, would you object to me imposing the condition that he really must get his affairs in order if he wants this money?

Believe me, with the way some of them in Greece are parading around calling us Nazis while quite happily taking our money, the uneducated sentiment here is simply to say "fuck em". The problem is, the educated sentiment here knows full well we can't.

That definition of Europe excludes this one crappy place called The Balkans, right?

I'm agreeing on the deterrent part in that it prevented another world war. But I don't think either party would have had problems with destabilising Europe if it furthered their goals.

There has been a lot of debate about this topic due to Stalin offering a united Germany if it stayed neutral (like Austria). Historians have come to the conclusion that it wouldn't have worked as Germany would have been to powerful and important to be ignored by the two powers. Now amplify this by all the western Europe nations. A lot of civil discord, to say the least.
How many wars have been there since they joined the EU?
What about Hitler? He also united Europe. Or Napoleon. I think Napoleon even got a bigger empire, with Spain and all that. ;-)

Well, we are. Slovaks, not so much :)

(That was a joke, though there is some basis in reality. We really don't have a whole lot of history in common with Slovakia. Not nearly as much as with Germany and Austria, really.)

Which is part of the reasoning behind sending so much money out of the country - in addition to acknowledging that even though we're not part of EU, we're very much depending on it. Of course, this doesn't help with the "it's a typical norwegian trait being best" crap that so many norwegians seems to believe (especially when it comes to winter sports, but not limited to that). Yes, some things are good here, but not everything, nor does it make us any better (just more lucky) - if you want a reminder, take your car for a drive, or try public transportation.. Anyway, enough ranting..

I'm not sure I'd call it that, but even if it did, then shouldn't the ECSC get (or haven gotten) the prize, or at least have been mentioned in the announcement? :)

But anyway, I don't deny that the EU is an important factor for peace in Europe.

True - which is one of the reasons why I didn't say such a thing. :)

I still think the EU is the best candidate, because the ECSC is just one of countless initiatives and treaties that are united under that banner.

In the end, it was also the students that went to exchanges as much as the politicians that made those possible, who secured the peace in Europe.

It's the best symbol you've got to unite around.

Let's hope that people keep (or start) seeing it that way. :)

The Kosovo War was just a bit more than ten years ago. The war between Macedonia and the UCK bastards was also just a bit more than ten years ago. Still cannot believe that NATO supported those terrorists on both occasions.

There's also this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHKxxRerns0

People like these should be purged of this planet.

The REAL question is... What does EU gonna do with the money that comes with the prize? Booze? XD

Again.

Where they part of the EU?

Nope, only food. They'll buy their alcohol when they charge Microsoft with 1 billion EUR penalty for not displaying a window for EU users to pick a default browser when first starting up the system.

Yup, you read that right.

Probably Greece. Should keep them running for another ... 8 minutes?