The invitation of the Russian and Belarusian ambassadors to the Nobel gala in Stockholm arouses widespread disapproval
The Nobel Foundation, which organizes the award ceremony and a gala dinner in the Swedish capital, announced on Thursday that it would invite all the ambassadors of the countries present in Sweden and Norway this year, to promote dialogue in favor of peace. . Last year, she had not invited the Russian and Belarusian ambassadors because of the war in Ukraine, as well as the Iranian ambassador because of the repression of the protest movement.
“As long as millions of Ukrainians continue to suffer from a war they did not cause and Russian power is not punished for its crimes, we call on the Nobel Committee to support efforts to isolate Russia and Belarus », reacted the spokesperson for the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oleg Nikolenko, on Facebook. For him, this invitation will arouse “a heightened sense of impunity” of Russian power.
Belarusian opposition leader in exile Svetlana Tsikhanovskaya has called on the Nobel Foundation to back down. “No compromise should be made with the values of Alfred Nobel. I call on the Foundation and the Nobel Committee not to invite representatives of the illegitimate Lukashenko regime to events and to demand the immediate release” of Ales Bialiatski, Nobel Peace Prize 2022, she declares on X (formerly Twitter).
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said ” very surprised “ by these invitations. “I would not have done it if I had to deal with invitations to an award ceremony and I understand that it bothers in Sweden and Ukraine”he added in a statement to Agence France-Presse.
For the Nobel Foundation, “it is clear that the world is increasingly divided into spheres and that the dialogue between divergent points of view is increasingly reduced”for his part, declared Vidar Helgesen, its director, in a communicated. “To reverse this trend, we are expanding our invitation to celebrate and understand the Nobel Prize and the importance of free science, free culture and free and peaceful societies”he adds.
Several Swedish politicians, including Green, Center and Left leaders, said they would boycott the gala dinner because of the Russian ambassador’s invitation.