Nobel Foundation reverses prize ceremony invite for Russia and Belarus

The Nobel Foundation reversed course on Saturday and said it would not invite the ambassadors of Russia and Belarus to the Nobel Prize award ceremony, acknowledging that an earlier decision to extend invitations had prompted backlash.

Russia and Belarus were disinvited from the ceremony last year after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The exclusion was part of a diplomatic campaign by the West to isolate the government of President Vladimir Putin of Russia.

The organization also retracted Iran’s invitation after a harsh government crackdown on anti-government protests that erupted after the death of a young woman who had been detained by the country’s morality police. Hundreds were killed and around 20,000 were arrested in the clampdown, according to the United Nations.

But this past week, the foundation said it would again invite representatives of the three countries to the December ceremony in Stockholm. Vidar Helgesen, executive director of the Nobel Foundation, initially said the decision to resume inviting Russia and Belarus aimed to increase dialogue between states amid deepening geopolitical division.

“The world is increasingly divided into spheres, where dialogue between those with differing views is being reduced,” Helgesen said in a statement. “To counter this tendency, we are now broadening our invitations.”

The move drew immediate backlash both in Sweden, where the Nobel Foundation’s headquarters are based, and in Ukraine. Several Swedish lawmakers vowed to boycott the ceremony in Stockholm.

“I looked forward to participating in the Nobel Prize ceremony and banquet,” Muharrem Demirok, leader of Sweden’s Center Party, wrote on social media. “But as long as Russia wages its war against Ukraine I cannot participate in the same celebration as their ambassador.”

On Saturday, the Nobel Foundation backpedaled, saying that the decision to reinvite the three countries this year had been based on a desire “to reach out as widely as possible.” But the foundation acknowledged that it had “provoked strong reactions” that had “completely overshadowed this message.”

As a result, the foundation said, it would “repeat last year’s exception to regular practice — that is, to not invite the ambassadors of Russia, Belarus and Iran.”