On Friday, October 10, 2014, the Norwegian Nobel Committee will announce the recipient of the 2014 Peace Prize and the winner might be Edward Snowden.
 
Various left wing groups along with academics in Norway have been lobbying for Snowden. Even Norway’s largest newspaper, Aftenposten, has written in an editorial in late June that “Awarding Snowden the Nobel Peace Prize would be an extremely bold and very controversial, but in our opinion also a correct choice.”
 
The Aftenposten has also surmised that Snowden would be the first winner who might be subject to arrest if he came to Oslo to accept the award. The paper asked the Justice Minister if Snowden would be arrested and extradited to the US since the US is a close ally, but the minister declined to speculate. It would be the first time also, that a Peace Prize winner, Obama, would try to arrest a fellow laureate.
 
Russia has already granted Snowden a resident permit and the terms allow Snowden to travel out of the country. It may be that President Putin allowed for international travel just in case Snowden won. Certainly, Putin would score a huge propaganda victory if Snowden wins at a time when Europe is still reacting to the Ukraine invasion and the downing of a passenger aircraft by Ukraine separatists. It would also be rather awkward for Obama.
 
The prize includes an award of over one million dollars which would certainly help Snowden endure his Russian exile.