Ambassadors from Russia and Belarus have been invited back to the Nobel Prize banquet after being excluded last year due to the invasion of Ukraine, the Nobel Foundation said.
Iran, which was also not invited in 2022, was called to the event, which takes place in December in the Swedish capital, Stockholm.
The foundation said it wanted participation even from those who do not share the Nobel Prize’s values.
“It is clear that the world is increasingly divided into spheres, where dialogue between those with different points of view is reduced,” said Vidar Helgesen, executive director of the Nobel Foundation, in a statement on Thursday (31).
“To buck this trend, we are now expanding our invitations to celebrate and understand the Nobel Prize and the importance of free science, free culture and free and peaceful societies,” added Helgesen.
Russians and Belarusians have been excluded from numerous events since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Athletes from Russia and Belarus have been banned from competing in tournaments, and diplomats are regularly excluded from matches.
But the foundation said its decision was made to avoid further “polarisation”.
“Achievements recognized by the Nobel Prize require openness, exchange and dialogue between people and nations. The Nobel Foundation would like to convey this message to everyone,” he said in a statement.
A Swedish member of the European Parliament called the decision “extremely inappropriate”.
“The Nobel Committee contributes to setting a precedent, a very dangerous precedent, giving the green light to invite Russia to a glamorous party while missiles fall on Ukrainian cultural centers and murder children,” Swedish Liberal MEP Karin Karlsbro told national radio. swedish.
Karlsbro questioned the foundation’s reason for inviting “three rogue states, which repress their citizens, wage war and terror both in their own countries and neighboring countries” and “in no way subscribe to democratic values”.
“It’s an incredibly naive view and undermines the cohesion that we need across society globally, in Europe, to support Ukraine in winning this war and stopping Putin,” said Karlsbro.
The Nobel Foundation also reversed its long-standing policy of excluding the leader of the Sweden Democrats, a far-right party that forms part of the country’s coalition government.
However, despite being invited for the first time, the leader of the Sweden Democrats, Jimmie Akesson, rejected the invitation. “Sorry I’ll be busy that day,” he wrote on Facebook.
The Nobel Banquet takes place annually in Stockholm on December 10, where five of the six Nobel Prizes are awarded. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway.
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Source: CNN Brasil
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