Ambassadors of Russia and Belarus to be Invited Back to Nobel Prize Ceremonies
The Nobel Foundation has announced that the ambassadors of Russia and its ally Belarus will be invited back to the prestigious Nobel Prize ceremonies this year. This decision has drawn criticism from Kyiv, as both countries were excluded from the ceremonies last year due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
According to the Nobel Foundation, ambassadors from all countries that have diplomatic representation in Sweden and Norway will be invited to the award ceremonies, which are held in Stockholm and Oslo. The foundation stated that the achievements recognized by the Nobel Prize require openness, exchange, and dialogue between people and nations, and it wants to reach out to everyone, including those who do not share the values of the Nobel Prize.
However, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko expressed his disappointment with the decision, calling on the Nobel Foundation to support international efforts to isolate Russia and Belarus. He argued that the “decision to return to business as usual” would only strengthen the feeling of impunity in the Kremlin, particularly as he believes that the Russian army may commit further war crimes on Ukrainian territories.
Five of the six Nobel Prizes are awarded during ceremonies in Stockholm each year, while the Nobel Peace Prize is presented in Oslo. The private foundation that organizes the awards typically invites ambassadors to the ceremony, which takes place on December 10th, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death.
Last year, the Nobel Foundation excluded representatives from Moscow and Minsk due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, this year, Vidar Helgesen, the executive director of the Nobel Foundation, stated that the world is increasingly divided into spheres where dialogue between differing views is diminishing. Therefore, the foundation wants to counter this tendency by broadening its invitations to celebrate and understand the Nobel Prize and the importance of free science, culture, and peaceful societies.
Critics of the decision pointed out that a Belarusian court recently sentenced human rights activist Ales Bialiatski, one of last year’s Nobel Peace Prize winners, to 10 years in prison. Bialiatski shared the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize with Ukraine’s Center for Civil Liberties and the Russian human rights group Memorial.
The Nobel Foundation’s press office confirmed that the laureates would be announced, and the invitations sent in October. It clarified that while all ambassadors are traditionally invited to the award ceremony, only ambassadors of countries with laureates that year attend the banquet.
The announcement from the Nobel Foundation comes shortly after the International Olympic Committee’s decision not to formally invite Russia and Belarus to the 2024 Olympics in Paris. However, athletes from these countries may still be able to compete as independents.
It remains unclear whether the invitation of all ambassadors by the Nobel Foundation also includes representatives from Iran, who were left out last year. Tehran had announced in July that despite appointing a new ambassador to Sweden, it would refrain from sending the diplomat in protest over the burning of a Quran outside a Stockholm mosque.
Alongside Russia and Belarus, the Nobel Foundation had excluded Tehran from the 2022 ceremony due to the “serious and escalating situation” in the country. This decision was made during a crackdown on months of protests in Iran against issues such as gender discrimination and economic neglect.
The Nobel Prize ceremonies are highly regarded as they celebrate and honor achievements in various fields, bringing attention to important global issues. The inclusion or exclusion of ambassadors from specific countries in these events can have significant diplomatic implications.
Serhiy Morgunov contributed to this report.