EU, former Pres. Bill Clinton among Nobel Peace Prize candidates

Oslo - It's that time of the year where the famous Nobel Peace Prize committee selects a few individuals who have contributed to world peace. This year, there are more than 200 candidates nominated for the esteemed award.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has received official nominations of 231 candidates with 43 of them being organizations. This is one of the highest numbers of nominated individuals – the largest was in 2011 when 247 were nominated. This year, there are new names and some familiar faces, who are consistently nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. Among the 231 candidates are former United States Bill Clinton, WikiLeaks suspect Bradley Manning, former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Some of the 43 organizations include Memorial, a Russian rights group, and its founder Svetlana Gannushkina, the European Union and Al-Jazeera, the television news channel that provided in-depth coverage of the Arab Spring. The entire list is kept secret, which has been a rule practiced for more than 50 years. However, the qualified nominators are permitted to reveal the name of the person or organization that has been nominated. There are six steps to becoming a Nobel Peace Prize recipient: - Committee sends out invitations - Deadline for submission - The preparation of a short list - Review of candidates - Nobel Laureates are selected - Nobel Prize Award Ceremony The winner(s) will be announced in October. It is important to note that a person cannot nominate him or herself. For more than a century, the Nobel Prize has been awarded for outstanding achievements in the fields of chemistry, physics, medicine, literature, physiology and peace. Each winner receives a medal, diploma and a cash award. Former Nobel Peace Prize laureates include former U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, Martin Luther King, the United Nations, Mother Teresa, former South Africa President Nelson Mandela, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and U.S. President Barack Obama.