PARIS — This year, in a slap against Washington, the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought could go to Edward J. Snowden, known as either the National Security Agency whistle-blower or a traitor, depending on perspective.
The European Parliament, the European Union's only democratically elected body, nominated Snowden for the prize late Monday. The others in contention include Malala Yousufzai, a Pakistani girl who was 14 when she was shot by the Taliban in October but survived to become a potent voice in the struggle for education rights for women; Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky, a former oil tycoon and Kremlin critic who is imprisoned in Russia; and Erdem Gunduz, who helped inspire the mass protests against the Turkish government this year in Istanbul.
The nomination of Snowden is the latest in a series of rebukes from European lawmakers upset with the Obama administration's foreign policies, including its surveillance program. It glaringly illustrates the chasm that the leaks have opened between the United States and its allies, not just European countries but also Brazil and other nations.