EU leaders "honored" by Nobel Peace Prize award: statement

 EU leaders "honored" by Nobel Peace Prize award: statement

BRUSSELS, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- The award of this year's Nobel Peace Prize to the European Union (EU) was "a tremendous honor" and "the strongest possible recognition" of its efforts to shape a continent of peace and prosperity, top leaders of EU institutions said here on Friday.

"It is a prize not just for the project and the institutions, but for the 500 million citizens living in the union," European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in a joint¹ statement.

"The EU has reunified the continent through peaceful means and brought arch enemies together. This historic act of reunification has been rightfully recognized," European Parliament President Martin Schulz said in a separate statement.

The EU was awarded the prize on Friday morning in Oslo for its key role in transforming most of Europe from "a continent of wars" to "a continent of peace," said Thorbjoen Jagland, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

The prize came as the EU has been dealing² with the eurozone debt crisis for almost three years, the most challenging crisis since the bloc³ had a starting point with the coal and steel community in the 1950s.

1 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

2 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

3 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。