RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR UNINVITED TO NOBEL PRIZE CEREMONY IN SWEDEN

Sun 03 September 2023:

Following intense opposition from Swedish legislators, the Nobel Foundation reversed its decision to invite Russia’s envoy to Sweden to the Nobel Prize ceremony.

The Nobel Prize foundation stated in a statement released on Saturday in Stockholm, “We … 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,”

The group also justified the decision to initially include a representation from Moscow. According to the statement, it is seen to be “important and right to reach out as widely as possible with the values and messages that the Nobel Prize stands for.”

Last year, a clear political message was sent by awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to human rights fighters from Russia and Belarus, as well as Ukrainians involved in documenting Russian war crimes in Ukraine, the foundation said.

But the “strong reaction” in Sweden had threatened to overshadow that message, the statement added with regard to the sudden U-turn.

Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson criticized the invitation on Friday and several senior Swedish politicians said they would stay away from the occasion if the Russian ambassador attended.

The Nobel Prizes for Literature, Medicine, Physics, Chemistry and Economics will be awarded in Stockholm on December 10.

The Nobel Peace Prize will be awarded on the same day by the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo. All ambassadors would be invited “as before” to that event, the foundation said.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

______________________________________________________________

FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:

TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent