The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 is to be awarded to President Barack Obama for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.

Obama said he was surprised and deeply humbled by the honor, and planned to travel to Oslo to accept the award.

“I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments. But rather as an affirmation of American leadership. … I will accept this award as a call to action.” Obama said at the White House.

“I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many transformative figures that have been honored by this prize,” He added.

The Committee has attached special importance to Obama’s vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons. They emphasized that only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future. His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world’s population.