Ukraine’s foreign ministry on Saturday regarded the withdrawal of the invitation to the Russian ambassador to this year’s Nobel Prize ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden, as “a victory for humanism”.
“A victory for humanism,” Ukrainian ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko told the social network Facebook after the Nobel Foundation came back and withdrew its invitation to the Russian and Belarusian ambassadors.
Nikolenko also said he hoped a “similar decision” would be made at the award of the Nobel Peace Prize, which is taking place in Oslo, Norway..
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 today. published.
Last year, this body decided not to invite the Russian and Belarusian ambassadors because of the war in Ukraine, as well as the Iranian ambassador, the latter because of the harsh suppression of the popular protest movement in favor of women’s rights.
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
