Nobel Foundation rescinds invitation for ambassadors from Russia and Belarus to attend prize ceremony

The Nobel Foundation has rescinded invitations for ambassadors from Russia, Belarus, and Iran to attend the Nobel Prize award ceremony, reads a statement on the organization’s website.

The Foundation explained its decision to invite all ambassadors to the ceremony as wanting “to reach out as widely as possible with the values and messages that the Nobel Prize stands for.”

The statement continues:

For example, through last year’s clear political message with the peace prize awarded to human rights fighters from Russia and Belarus as well as to Ukrainians who work with documenting Russian war crimes

We recognize the strong reactions in Sweden, which completely overshadowed this message. The board of the Nobel Foundation, therefore, 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. As before, all ambassadors will be invited to the ceremony in Oslo.