Pact of Free Cities endorses Minneapolis Nobel Peace Prize Nomination

In a statement adopted during the Pact of Free Cities Summit in Bratislava, mayors from across Europe and the United States expressed support for Minneapolis in response to the city’s efforts to protect democratic norms, vulnerable communities, and public trust during a period of severe political and social tension.

The statement highlights the peaceful mobilization of residents, the work of local institutions, and the leadership shown by Mayor Jacob Frey and community organizations in defending human dignity and democratic accountability.

The Pact emphasized that the nomination reflects a broader principle at the heart of the alliance since its founding in 2019: that cities are not only administrative entities, but democratic communities capable of protecting freedom, solidarity, and the rule of law when these values come under pressure.

Statement by the Pact of Free Cities in Support of the Nobel Peace Prize Nomination of the City of Minneapolis and Its People

The Pact of Free Cities, a global network of more than 35 mayors united in defense of freedom, human dignity, democracy, and the rule of law, endorses the nomination of the City of Minneapolis and its people for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize. Founded in 2019, the Pact of Free Cities brings together mayors and city leaders who share a common conviction: when central governments place democratic values under threat, cities and their residents must be prepared to step forward — defending human dignity, protecting vulnerable communities, and insisting that democratic norms are not negotiable. Across different national contexts, our network has seen how local institutions are often called upon to uphold these principles at moments of profound strain. Minneapolis has offered a powerful demonstration of this civic responsibility, and it is from that perspective that the Pact of Free Cities supports the Nobel Peace Prize nomination of the City of Minneapolis and its people.

The events in Minneapolis in late 2025 and early 2026 were not simply a matter of policy disagreement. Large-scale federal immigration enforcement actions brought armed federal personnel into the life of the city in a manner that generated fear among immigrant and refugee communities and disrupted daily life, including work, schooling, and access to care. Fatal incidents, leading to its most extreme by killing two people from civilian population, involving residents deepened the sense of trauma and instability. What followed was therefore not only a local controversy, but a test of whether a democratic community could respond to pressure without surrendering either its humanity or its discipline.

The people of Minneapolis responded with remarkable restraint and solidarity. Residents organized peaceful public demonstrations in severe winter conditions, built mutual-aid networks to support affected families, and developed community-based systems of warning, accompaniment, and care for vulnerable neighbors. What deserves recognition is not only the scale of this response, but also its character: it was collective, nonviolent, and sustained. At a moment marked by fear and fragmentation, the city’s communities answered with civic courage and human solidarity.

City leadership mattered, too. Mayor Jacob Frey and other local officials spoke publicly in defence of residents’ rights, including in response to enforcement tactics that Mayor Frey described as terrorizing people and discriminating on the basis of race. They also used the city’s institutional tools to protect residents. Legal action taken by residents and advocates further underscored that this was not only a story of protest, but also of democratic accountability pursued through lawful means. Minneapolis did not respond only in the streets; it responded through institutions as well.

No municipality has ever received the Nobel Peace Prize. The Pact believes this candidacy offers a historic opportunity to change that — and to affirm a principle at the heart of our network since its founding: that cities are not merely administrative units of central governments, but democratic communities with the agency, the legitimacy, and the moral authority to act when the state fails to protect its own people. Minneapolis has shown that a city can fulfil this role not by claiming sovereignty beyond the state, but by meeting its civic obligations to protect residents, preserve public trust, and uphold democratic norms under pressure.

This nomination is strengthened further by the fact that Minneapolis’s record does not begin and end with one crisis. In the years since 2020, the city has pursued efforts to reform public safety, expand non-police crisis response, and advance processes of truth-telling and reconciliation in response to historic injustice. These efforts remain works in progress, as serious institutional efforts often do. But they reflect an important principle: lasting peace is built not only by resisting harm in the moment, but by creating institutions capable of addressing its causes over time. Minneapolis has shown that a city can move beyond protest to build durable systems of safety, equity, and reconciliation.

The Nobel Peace Prize has long recognized moral courage, nonviolent action, and the defence of human dignity. In that spirit, the example of Minneapolis deserves careful consideration. Recognizing the city and its people would acknowledge a form of peacebuilding that is local in scale, democratic in method, and universal in meaning — and would affirm that when cities stand together for their people, they can face down even the most formidable threats to their freedom.

The Pact of Free Cities therefore supports the nomination of the City of Minneapolis and its people for the Nobel Peace Prize and respectfully asks the Norwegian Nobel Committee to give this nomination its thoughtful consideration.