STOCKHOLM: The Nobel Foundation has overturned a much-criticized decision to invite Iran, Russia, and Belarus to this year’s awards function in Stockholm, BBC reported on Saturday.
In a statement, the Nobel Foundation said that they recognized the strong reaction in Sweden after extending an invitation to Russia to attend this year’s award ceremony.
Russia and Belarus were also not invited last year due to the Ukraine war, while Tehran was left out over its human rights track record.
Nobel Prize Invitation to Moscow and Tehran Withdrawn
Kyiv had denounced this year’s decision of the Nobel Foundation and welcomed Saturday’s U-turn as “a win for humanism”.
In its statement on Saturday, the Nobel Foundation defended its first decision, adding “it is significant and right to reach out as extensively as possible with the messages and values that the Nobel Prize stands for – for instance, through last year’s strong political message with the peace prize awarded to human rights fighters from Belarus and Russia as well as to Ukrainian citizens who work with documenting war crimes in Ukraine conflict”.
However, the foundation also admitted that the reaction had “outshined this message”.
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Earlier, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said he disagreed with the Nobel Foundation inviting the Russian envoy to this year’s Nobel banquet, adding to rising criticism of the decision.
In a statement, Executive Director of the Nobel Foundation Vidar Helgesen said that it was clear that the world was increasingly divided into spheres, where talks between those with differing views were being reduced.
The celebration is held each year in Stockholm on December 10 when laureates in the fields of physics, medicine, literature, economics and chemistry receive their awards from King Carl XVI Gustaf, followed by a gala banquet for about 1,200 guests.
