At the Nobel Foundation, Russian, Belarusian and Iranian diplomats are no longer welcome

Six years ago, the Nobel Foundation was faltering, destabilized by the biggest scandal of the #MeToo era in Sweden. Since then, the foundation, which was established in 1900 to manage the legacy of Alfred Nobel, has spared no effort to forget the shame caused by the Swedish Academy responsible for awarding the Nobel Prize for Literature, which is accused of covering up sexual assaults committed by the husband of an academic.

She has barely recovered from this sad incident, and is in a state of turmoil again. At issue: its decision to invite the ambassadors of Russia, Belarus and Iran stationed in Stockholm to the traditional awards ceremony, on December 10, all of whom are banned in 2022. In a press release published on August 31, the foundation said a “Return to normal practice” He noted that in 2022, diplomats from the three countries have been invited to attend the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo.

Two days later, Saturday, September 2, at midday, she reversed course, noting what had happened “Strong reactions” resulting from his actions. The three diplomats are therefore no longer welcome in the Stockholm Concert Hall, where the Nobel Prizes in Literature, Physics, Chemistry, Medicine and Economics are awarded every year to the winners by the King. The court had just announced that Carl XVI Gustav had not decided whether he would participate in the ceremony and was waiting to see him “What will happen in the coming days?”.

“Acceptance of atrocities” by Russia

The day before, the Ukrainian ambassador to Stockholm, Andriy Plakhotniuk, expressed his lack of understanding. In a message posted on X (formerly Twitter), he asked: “What has changed since last year, when the organization took a clear stand for peace and humanity? » He warned against this call “Russia is likely to interpret it as tacit acceptance of its brutal actions.”

In a rare mood swing, several Stockholm-based diplomats offered their support to Mr. Plakhotnyuk, including the French ambassador to Sweden, Etienne de Gonville, who shared the message from his Ukrainian counterpart, explaining that he was. ” Good ” With him. In a joint tweet, the ambassadors of the three Baltic countries called on the institution to… “reconsidering” Her decision, considering it “Russia and Belarus will interpret it as acceptance of their atrocities.”.

Representatives of the Belarusian opposition in Stockholm also responded, indicating that the invitation was directed to “Those who keep Nobel laureate Alice Bialiatski in solitary confinement, in a prison where torture is practiced.”. The 60-year-old Belarusian human rights activist, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022 through the Russian memorial NGO and the Ukrainian Center for Civil Liberties, was sentenced to ten years in prison in March.

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