The Nobel Foundation, responsible for awarding the Nobel Prizes, backed down on Saturday from the decision to invite “all ambassadors” to the award ceremony, after receiving “strong reactions” to the invitation from diplomats from Russia and Belarus.
“We have decided to repeat last year’s exception to the usual practice, i.e. we will not invite the ambassadors of Russia, Belarus and Iran to the Nobel Prize ceremony in Stockholm,” said a statement posted on its website on Saturday. has been published.
Last year, this body decided not to invite the Russian and Belarusian ambassadors because of the war in Ukraine, and also the Iranian ambassador because of the suppression of the protest movement.
Contrary to what happened then, the foundation that organizes the award ceremony and a grand gala dinner in the Swedish capital announced on Friday that it would invite all ambassadors of the countries present in Sweden to promote dialogue in favor of peace.
The decision to invite all ambassadors this year was criticized by the Swedish Prime Minister, Kiev and the Belarusian opposition. And Belarusian-in-exile Svetlana Tikhanovkaïa has appealed to the Nobel Foundation to reverse the decision.
In Sweden, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson was “very surprised” by the invitations.
The ceremony takes place every year in Stockholm on December 10, 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 present. .
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.
Source: DN
