A Nobel Prize for Zelensky? Schlein is silent, but some in the Democratic Party are saying yes.

The Nobel Peace Prize for Volodymyr Zelensky? "Democracy, freedom, and peace are inseparable," Paolo Gentiloni, former European Commissioner and former Prime Minister of the Democratic Party, told Il Foglio. He then added: "Democracy, freedom, and peace are under attack today. And no one is doing more than Zelensky to defend them. The autocrats underestimated him and now they hate him. Democrats should make him their symbol. In Kyiv and in Italy."

And among the Democrats in Italy, there are those who have no doubts about the appropriateness of awarding the honor to the Ukrainian president. "There is no other public figure, internationally, more deserving of that prize," says Democratic Party Senator Filippo Sensi . "The Nobel Prize," echoes European Parliament Vice President Pina Picierno, "has always symbolized the aspirations for freedom and peace of all humanity. And Zelensky, with his human and political experience, has been and continues to be this, and not only for his own people."

"Zelensky deserves that award," Sensi continues, "for what Ukraine has suffered and continues to suffer every day. For the values ​​of democracy, freedom, law, and peace that Ukraine defends. For the call for peace that, despite everything its people suffer daily, he raises every day before the international community. Because today, more than ever, he symbolizes what peace means: risking one's life against the inevitability of evil, the hope of living one's life without bearing the yoke of violence, abuse, and hatred." "May Director Cerasa's appeal be heeded by all democratic forces in Italy and Europe," Picierno hopes. "May it be heeded by every political faction. Especially by those who make progress the hallmark of the alternative."

May the appeal be heeded "especially by those who make progress their banner," and therefore, especially, by his Democratic Party. While in Italy he sometimes hesitates, in Brussels, however, with the former mayor of Florence Dario Nardella, he adds a personal testimony to his assent to the Nobel Prize : "I met Zelensky in Kyiv in the summer of the first year of the war," says the MEP, "after he had spoken remotely for the first time in March at the large demonstration in Piazza Santa Croce in Florence, linked to 100 other European squares, with the flags of Ukraine and all the political parties." And since then? Since then, we have built a relationship of sincere collaboration. When I met him in Kyiv to sign the agreement between Ukrainian and European cities for the reconstruction of their schools, hospitals, and libraries, I asked him: "Mr. President, why, in the midst of war and bombing, five months after the Russian invasion, do you want to talk about rebuilding the attacked cities?" He replied: "Because if we don't commit to reconstruction, even under bombing, how can I convey to my people, who are fighting every day, a message of hope for a quick peace and rebirth?" There you have it. In that conversation in Kyiv, I found the reasons behind a proposal to award the Nobel Prize to Zelensky."

For MP Lia Quartapelle, "Zelensky deserves the prize for his courage, because with courage he is leading his people." And even if some reformists are not persuaded by the Nobel option, that doesn't change anything in substance. For former mayor of Bergamo, now MEP Giorgio Gori, it's true that "politics also thrives on symbolic acts, honorary citizenships, and flagship proposals, but..." But? But over symbols—and this is my limitation—I tend to prefer the substance of policies, which in this case mean renewing and even strengthening Europe's humanitarian, economic, and military support for Kyiv. Both for today, to compensate for the moral misery of those who promise 'never another dollar for Ukraine,' and for tomorrow, when the hoped-for 'ceasefire' will require robust guarantees to transform into a solid and lasting peace . Therefore, the editor of Il Foglio will forgive me if I choose to support his proposal to nominate Zelensky for the Nobel Prize in substance but not in form.

Membership—whether formal or substantive—for which the Democratic Party has nonetheless struck a blow. Especially in Brussels. "As Europeans," Picierno concludes, "after decades of intoxication with budgets and austerity, we have rediscovered the deepest meaning of our integration, the most intense reason for our political participation, the most tenacious resistance to the aggressor's arrogance."

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