Unlike last year, the Russian and Belarusian ambassadors to Sweden have been invited to the upcoming Nobel Prize ceremony in Stockholm, a decision that has met with widespread disapproval, with criticism from the Swedish Prime Minister and Kiev.
The Nobel Foundation, which is hosting the award ceremony and a grand gala dinner in the Swedish capital, announced on Thursday that it will invite all ambassadors from countries present in Sweden to this year’s ceremony to promote dialogue in favor of peace.
Last year, this body decided not to invite the two ambassadors because of the war in Ukraine, and also the Iranian ambassador because of the repression of the protest movement.
“As long as millions of Ukrainians continue to suffer from a war they did not cause and the Russian power is not punished for its crimes, we call on the Nobel Committee to support efforts to isolate Russia and Belarus,” the spokesman for the agency said. Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Oleg Nikolenko, through the social network Facebook.
For Nikolenko, this invitation will create a “growing sense of impunity” in the Russian power.
Belarusian opposition leader-in-exile Svetlana Tikhanovkaïa has appealed to the Nobel Foundation to reverse the decision.
Belarus, led with an iron fist by Alexander Lukashenko since 1994, is a close ally of Moscow.
“No invitation should be made with respect to Alfred Nobel’s values. I call on the Foundation and the Nobel Committee not to invite representatives of the illegitimate Lukashenko regime to events and demand their immediate release” by Ales Bialiatski, Nobel Prize for Peace 2022, Svetlana Tikhanovkaïa stressed through the social network X (formerly Twitter).
Alfred Nobel’s values should not be compromised. I call on the Nobel Foundation and the Nobel Committee not to invite representatives of the illegitimate Lukashenko regime to any events and to demand the immediate release of @Nobel Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski from prison. pic.twitter.com/cmNAJSjXuN
– Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya (@Tsihanouskaya) September 1, 2023
In Sweden, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson was “very surprised” by the invitations.
“I would not have done it if I had to deal with invitations to an award ceremony and I understand that this is troubling in Sweden and Ukraine,” he said in a statement to AFP.
For the Nobel Foundation, it is “clear that the world is becoming more and more divided into spheres and that the dialogue between differing viewpoints is getting smaller and smaller,” director Vidar Helgesen said in a statement.
“To reverse this trend, we invite you to celebrate and understand the Nobel Prize and the importance of free science, free culture, and free and peaceful societies,” he added.
The ceremony takes place every year in Stockholm on 10 December, the day on which the winners of prizes in medicine, physics, chemistry, literature and economics receive their prizes from King Charles XVI Gustaf, followed by a gala dinner where approximately 1,200 guests are in attendance. .
A separate event will be organized for the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on the same day, to which all ambassadors present in Norway will be invited without exception.
“It is good that all diplomatic representatives present in Oslo can hear the message conveyed by the laureate and the Nobel Committee, especially the representatives of authoritarian states that oppress or wage war on their people,” the Norwegian secretary stressed. AFP Committee. by Nobel, Olav Njølstad.
Last year, the ambassadors of Russia and Belarus, although invited, avoided the ceremony in Oslo honoring Bialiatsky, as did two organizations defending civil liberties in Russia and Ukraine.
Source: DN
