Norway received a combination of disbelief and applause from the international community today for the Nobel’s committee’s announcement that the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize will go to the European Union for its transformation “from a continent of war to a continent of peace” and its focus on “peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights,” according to the BBC.

However, Europe isn’t perfect, and human rights abuses still plague the continent. Human Rights Watch has called for the “end to business as usual” in the EU, although the prize is “a recognition of the EU’s contribution to democracy and human rights in Europe,” reported the Telegraph.

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