Nobel Retracts Russia, Belarus, Iran Invites
The Nobel Foundation on
Saturday retracted its invitation for representatives of Russia,
Belarus, and Iran to attend this year's Nobel Prize award ceremonies
after the controversial decision "provoked strong reactions."
Several Swedish
lawmakers said Friday they would boycott this year's Nobel Prize award
ceremonies in the Swedish capital, Stockholm, after the private
foundation that administers the prestigious awards changed its position
from a year earlier and invited representatives of the three countries
to attend.
Some of the lawmakers cited Russia's war on Ukraine and the crackdown on human rights in Iran as reasons for their boycott.
The Swedish Prime
Minister Ulf Kristersson told media outlets Friday that he wouldn't
allow Russian representatives to attend the ceremony to attend Nobel
award ceremonies this year if given the choice.
"The basis for the
decision is that we believe that it is important and right to reach out
as widely as possible with the values and messages that the Nobel Prize
stands for," the Nobel Foundation said in a brief statement.
The foundation said they
recognized "the strong reactions in Sweden, which completely
overshadowed this message" and chose not to invite "the ambassadors of
Russia, Belarus and Iran to the Nobel Prize award ceremony in
Stockholm."
However, it said that it
would follow its usual practice and invite all ambassadors to the
ceremony in Oslo where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded.
The Nobel Foundation
said earlier it had extended invitations to all countries with
diplomatic missions in Sweden and Norway to the Dec. 10 event since that
"promotes opportunities to convey the important messages of the Nobel
Prize to everyone."
