Ana , Elena , Ilona and Larkin going to Oslo for the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony

“Peace, Europe, Future”: four young Europeans to attend the official Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony

Four young Europeans, Ana from Spain, Elena from Italy, Ilona from Poland and Larkin from Malta, will join EU leaders in Oslo for the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony. They won the drawing and writing contest organised by the EU institutions, in partnership with the European Youth Forum, on the occasion of the award of the Nobel Peace prize to the European Union.

“Peace, Europe, Future: What does Peace in Europe mean to you?” This was the question put to young people from the EU and acceding or candidate countries aged between 8 and 24. Children aged 8 to 12 expressed their answer in a drawing, young people aged 13 to 24 in a short text of maximum 120 characters, in any of the 23 EU official languages.

The contest attracted close to 5 400 applications, from 33 countries: 1 173 drawings for the age group 8-12, 1 870 texts for the age group 13-17 and 2 354 texts for the age group 18-24, the EC announced.

The European Youth Forum pre-selected the 16 best entries for each age group. A jury chaired by the famous comic book author Jean Van Hamme selected three of the final winners (one per age group):

– Ana FANLO VICENTE, from Spain, 12 years old, (group 1),

Ana lives in Salamanca. She is currently in second year of secondary education. She likes music, nature, and animals. During her free time, she loves riding horses, dancing flamenco, going to the movie and reading.

– Elena Nicoletta GARBUJO, fromItaly, 16 years old, (group 2),

Elena lives in Novate Milanese, a small town nearMilan. She is in third year of high school. She practices water-polo, ice skating and sailing. She also likes music and singing: she can play piano and sings in several chorus.

– Ilona ZIELKOWSKA, fromPoland, 21 years old, (group 3),

Ilona is studying political sciences with a specialisation in international relations at theUniversityofGdańsk. In her free time, she takes polish folk dance lessons and practices English-speaking theatre.

The fourth winner was chosen by a vote by the public on Facebook: 16 additional pre-selected entries from the categories 18-24 were posted. The candidate with the most votes, Larkin ZAHRA, 23, fromMaltawon. Larkin lives in Zebbug. He loves sports, one of his favourites being football.

The four winners are invited by the Presidents of the European Council, the European Commission and the European Parliament to be part of the official delegation of the European Union that is travelling toOsloto receive this year’s Peace Prize. They will attend the official ceremony on 10 December as well as the Nobel Peace Prize concert on 11 December.

The winner and the 9 runners-up of the Facebook vote will also be invited toStrasbourgfor a special event around the Nobel prize on 12 December at the European Parliament.