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Nobel body withdraws invitation to Russia, Belarus, Iran after backlash

Several prominent Swedish politicians, including the leaders of the Centre, Green, Left and Liberal parties, had said they would boycott the event over the Russian ambassador's presence.

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The glitzy event is held each year in Stockholm on December 10 when laureates in the fields of medicine, physics, chemistry, literature and economics receive their awards from King Carl XVI Gustaf. / Photo: AP Archive

The Nobel Foundation has said it would not after all invite the ambassadors of Russia, Belarus and Iran to attend the Nobel Prize awards ceremony in Stockholm this year, reversing an earlier decision after widespread criticism.

The foundation said on Saturday that the original decision was based on its 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."

However, it noted 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."

Last year, the Norwegian Nobel Institute still invited all ambassadors to the Peace Prize ceremony it organises in Oslo, and the foundation said this would be the case again.

"As before, all ambassadors will be invited to the ceremony in Oslo," it noted.

I welcome the new decision of the board of the Nobel Foundation regarding the Nobel Prize award ceremony in Stockholm. The many and strong reactions show that the whole of Sweden unambiguously stand on Ukraine’s side against Russia’s appalling war of aggression.
— SwedishPM (@SwedishPM) September 2, 2023

'Restoration of justice'

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, who had also disagreed with the Foundation's original announcement, welcomed the new decision in a statement on X.

In 2022, the Nobel Foundation, which organises the annual Nobel prize ceremony and banquet in Stockholm, decided not to invite the Russian and Belarusian ambassadors to the Stockholm award event because of the war in Ukraine.

They made the same decision regarding the Iranian envoy over the country's crackdown on a wave of protests.

The decision to once again invite the Russian and Belarusian representatives sparked ire in Sweden and abroad.

Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko wrote on Facebook that 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".

On Saturday, Nikolenko called the reversal a "victory for humanism."

"We thank everyone who demanded the restoration of justice. We are convinced that a similar decision should be made regarding the Russian and Belarusian ambassadors to Oslo," he said in another post to Facebook.