Nobel Foundation cancels invitations to Russian, Belarusian and Iranian ambassadors to Stockholm ceremony

The management of the Nobel Foundation has cancelled the invitation of the ambassadors of Russia, Belarus and Iran to the ceremony in Stockholm after criticism of this decision.

This was reported by the Nobel Foundation's press service.

However, the ambassadors are still invited to the ceremony in Oslo.

"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," the foundation said.

On September 1, it became known that the Nobel Foundation had invited the ambassadors of all countries with diplomatic missions in Sweden and Norway to the award ceremony. Among them were Russia, Belarus and Iran.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry reacted to this decision.

"It is likely that on the day when the Russian ambassador will be sitting in a nice suit in the Stockholm Concert Hall, the Russian army will be committing yet another war crime in the occupied Ukrainian territories, and Russian missiles will be destroying yet another residential area in Ukrainian cities," wrote Foreign Ministry spokesman Nikolenko.

Later, the Director General of the Nobel Foundation, Vidar Helgesen, said that the ambassadors of Russia, Belarus, and Iran were invited only to the Nobel Prize ceremony in the Concert Hall, but not to the subsequent celebrations in the Blue Hall.