Nobel Foundation retracts invites to Russian, Belarusian, and Iranian representatives
The Nobel Foundation retracted its invites to representatives from Russia, Belarus, and Iran to attend the Nobel Prize award ceremonies following a wave of criticism.
The Nobel Foundation acknowledged the decision to invite all ambassadors to the ceremony “provoked strong reactions” in its official statement on Sep. 2.
"The Nobel Foundation, therefore, choose to repeat last year's exception to regular practice — that is, to not invite the ambassadors of Russia, Belarus, and Iran to the Nobel Prize award ceremony in Stockholm."
The Foundation planned to follow its usual practice and invite all ambassadors to the ceremony in Oslo where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded. The group emphasized the importance “to reach out as widely as possible with the values and messages that the Nobel Prize stands for. The organization cited last year's clear political message with the peace prize awarded to human rights fighters from Russia and Belarus, as well as to Ukrainians who work on documenting Russian war crimes.”
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry welcomed the decision.
“A victory for humanism,” wrote FM representative Oleh Nikolenko on Facebook.
“We thank everyone who demanded the restoration of justice.”
Background
As is its tradition, the Nobel Foundation extended invitations to all countries with diplomatic missions in Sweden and Norway, including the ambassadors of Russia, Belarus, and Iran.
Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the decision to invite the Russian and Belarusian ambassadors despite Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine.
Several Swedish lawmakers said they would boycott the Nobel Prize award ceremonies due to the invitation of the Russian ambassador.
The foundation recognized the strong reactions in Sweden and made the decision to retract the invites.
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