The Nobel Foundation on Saturday reversed its decision and said it would not invite the ambassadors of Russia, Belarus and Iran to attend the Nobel Prize awards ceremony in Stockholm this year, after widespread criticism, reported Reuters. This comes after the foundation on Thursday said it would invite the ambassadors of the three countries and even those who did not share the values of the Nobel Prize, to this year’s prize award ceremonies in December.
Notably, the Nobel Foundation left out the ambassadors of Russia and its ally Belarus last year because of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. A similar decision was taken against Iran due to its crackdown on protests.
The announcement to invite them all drew sharp criticism with the leaders of several Swedish political parties saying they would boycott the ceremonies.
According to Reuters, in a statement on Saturday, the foundation said, “We recognise the strong reactions in Sweden.”
It said Thursday’s decision had been based on a belief “that it is important and right to reach out as widely as possible with the values and messages that the Nobel prize stands for”. It noted, however, that the strong reactions “completely overshadowed this message”.
“We, 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,” it added.
According to The Guardian, the Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson, Oleg Nikolenko, took to Facebook and said the foundation should support efforts to isolate Russia and Belarus as “millions of Ukrainians suffer from an unprovoked war and the Russian regime is not punished for its crimes”.
Even Swedish prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, also said he disagreed with the foundation’s decision.
“I would not have done it if I were handling invites to an award ceremony and I understand that it upsets many people in both Sweden and Ukraine,” he told AFP, as quoted by The Guardian.
Notably, the names of the Nobel prize winners are announced in early October and five of the six Nobel prizes are awarded in Stockholm every year after a nomination process that is kept secret for the next 50 years. However, the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo where separate festivities are held.
This year, winners will be announced from October 2-9 starting with Physiology or Medicine, while prize winners for Economics will be announced at the last.