Nobel Foundation Reverses Prize Ceremony Invite for Russia and Belarus

The Nobel Foundation reversed course on Saturday and mentioned it might not invite the ambassadors of Russia and Belarus to the Nobel Prize award ceremony, acknowledging that an earlier determination to take action had prompted backlash.

Both Russia and Belarus had been disinvited from the ceremony final 12 months after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022; the group additionally retracted Iran’s invitation after a harsh authorities crackdown on anti-government protests. But this previous week, the inspiration mentioned it might invite representatives of the three international locations to the December ceremony in Stockholm — a transfer that drew indignant responses from a number of Swedish lawmakers, who mentioned they might boycott the ceremony.

The Nobel Foundation mentioned in an announcement on Saturday that the choice to reinvite the three international locations’ envoys this 12 months had been primarily based on longstanding coverage “to reach out as widely as possible with the values and messages that the Nobel Prize stands for” — however acknowledged that it had “provoked strong reactions” that had “completely overshadowed this message.”

As a outcome, the inspiration mentioned, it might “repeat last year’s exception to regular practice — that is, to not invite the ambassadors of Russia, Belarus and Iran” to the award ceremony in Stockholm. Representatives from Russia, Belarus and Iran will probably be invited to a separate ceremony in Oslo as they had been earlier than, the assertion added.

The Nobel Foundation offers prizes every year within the fields of physics, chemistry, physiology or drugs, economics, literature and peace. Last 12 months, the Peace Prize was awarded to Memorial, a Russian human rights group, and Ales Bialiatski, a Belarusian activist, together with the Center for Civil Liberties in Ukraine.