Russia, Belarus ambassadors barred from Nobel Prize ceremony

Stockholm, October 26

The ambassadors of Russia and Belarus have been excluded from this year’s Nobel Prize ceremony here because of the war in Ukraine.

The Nobel Foundation, a private foundation which administers the prestigious awards, normally invites ambassadors stationed in Sweden to the annual award ceremony on December 10.

“But due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Nobel Foundation has chosen not to invite the ambassadors of Russia and Belarus to the Nobel Prize ceremony in Stockholm,” it said in a statement on Tuesday.

The foundation also said it would continue its practice of inviting the leaders of all parties in the Swedish Parliament, except the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats.

The group, which has sought to distance itself from its far-right roots, won more than 20 per cent of the vote in Sweden’s September 11 election to become the country’s second biggest political party and a close partner of the new centre-right government.

The Nobel Foundation said it saw no reason to reconsider its previous decision to leave out the Sweden Democrats, noting that the Nobel Prizes are “based on respect for science, culture, humanism and internationalism”.

The Nobel Prizes are always handed out on December 10, the anniversary of prize founder Alfred Nobel’s death in 1896.