On Thursday (Aug 31), the Nobel Foundation had announced its return to the previous practice of inviting ambassadors from all countries represented in Sweden, sparking a wave of criticism. However, within just two days, the decision was reversed due to the "strong reactions in Sweden."
The statement issued on Sept 2 reads:
“The decision by the Nobel Foundation to invite all ambassadors to the Nobel Prize award ceremony, in accordance with previous practice, has provoked strong reactions.
The basis for the decision is that we believe that it is important and right to reach out as widely as possible with the values and messages that the Nobel Prize stands for – for example, through last year’s clear political message with the peace prize awarded to human rights fighters from Russia and Belarus as well as to Ukrainians who work with documenting Russian war crimes.
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”.
In 2022, the Nobel Foundation, for the first time, decided not to invite the Russian and Belarusian ambassadors to the Stockholm award event, citing "the war in Ukraine" as the reason.
The eight-year-long military conflict had not been considered an obstacle until the full-scale invasion began on Feb 24, 2022. The Nobel Foundation did not elaborate on what changed in the course of the military action in 2023 to make the invitation possible again.