🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
The Nobel Foundation has reversed the decision to include representatives from Russia, Belarus, and Iran to attend its annual prize ceremonies.
Swedish and Ukrainian political leaders had condemned the possible attendance of the envoys at the prestigious awards which take place in Oslo.
Last year, ambassadors from Russia and Belarus, whose leader Alexander Lukashenko has facilitated Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion, were barred from attending the prize ceremonies and banquets.
The Iranian envoy was excluded last year over protests in the Islamic republic sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, who was accused of violating Iran's rules requiring women to cover their heads with a hijab, or headscarf.
The Nobel Foundation had said invitations were extended to all countries with diplomatic missions in Sweden and Norway although the Associated Press reported it was unclear whether the invitations to the ceremonies taking place on December 10 had already been sent.
However, the Nobel Foundation said in a statement on Saturday it would "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," Agence France Press reported.
The decision came amid an unconfirmed report that Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf said he had been surprised by the invitation to the envoys and expressed doubt on whether he would attend himself.
Meanwhile, Swedish Employment Minister Johan Pehrson said that allowing a representative to attend would be "extremely injudicious" while the country's prime minister Ulf Kristersson said it was necessary "to isolate Russia in every possible way."
Newsweek has contacted the Nobel Foundation by email for further comment.
In a rebuke to Vladimir Putin's authoritarian rule, last year's prize was shared by the Russian group Memorial and the Ukrainian organization Center for Civil Liberties. Jailed Belarusian rights activist Ales Bialiatski was also a recipient.
It comes as Russia added the co-recipient of the 2021 prize, Dmitry Muratov, the editor-in-chief of the independent anti-Kremlin newspaper Novaya Gazeta, to Moscow's list of foreign agents.
Russia has seen a crackdown on freedoms since the start of Putin's war and the label is aimed at stifling dissent, adding heavy administrative constraints and requiring sources of funding to be disclosed.
In June 2022, Muratov auctioned off his medal for $103.5m with the proceeds going to help refugees from the war in Ukraine.
Update 09/02/23, 8 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with further information.
About the writer
Brendan Cole is a Newsweek Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. His focus is Russia and Ukraine, in particular ... Read more