In regard to the awarding of the Nobel Prize for literature to Peter Handke, the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs expresses surprise and dissatisfaction with the choice of this year’s laureate.
Without going into Handke’s literary opus and the quality of his work, the Ministry expresses concern over the awarding of the Nobel Prize to a person politically engaged in supporting the Greater Serbia policy of Slobodan Milošević in the 1990s.
That policy led to wars on the territory of the former Yugoslavia, grave crimes in Kosovo and the aggression on Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, in which countless lives were lost, numerous people were displaced and long-term instability was introduced in this part of Europe. Milošević was held accountable for genocide and crimes against humanity before the ICTY, dying a few weeks before the verdict was handed down. The European and global public was also stunned by the fact that Handke delivered a eulogy at Milošević’s funeral.
The American, British and international PEN, as well as numerous distinguished philosophers and authors worldwide, described as unacceptable this decision by the Swedish Royal Academy because Handke is an author who denied historical truths and supported advocates of a genocidal policy.
The awarding of the Nobel Prize to Handke has tarnished the reputation and undermined the credibility of the prize itself.