The Nobel Foundation, which from its headquarters in Stockholm administers the prestigious annual awards in various disciplines, has decided to change its invitation policy to the awards ceremony and the subsequent banquet, and to include representatives of previously vetoed countries: Russia, Belarus and Iran.
“It is clear that the world is increasingly divided into spheres, where dialogue between those with different views is shrinking,” Vidar Helgesen, executive director of the Nobel Foundation, said in a statement. “To counter 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,” Helsengen argued.
Last year, Russian and Belarusian diplomats were not admitted to the Nobel ceremonies, which are always held on December 10, due to the war in Ukraine launched by Vladimir Putin and backed by Alexander Lukashenko. The Iranian ambassador was also excluded due to the repression unleashed by the regime against the protests of women and young people for the violent death of Mahsa Amini for not wearing a veil. Last year, the Nobel Peace Prize went to pro-democracy activists from Belarus, Russia and Ukraine.
The Nobel Foundation (in Swedish, Nobelstiftelsen) is a private institution founded in 1900 to administer the finances of the Swedish Alfred Nobel, inventor of dynamite, who in his will bequeathed his money to reward those who have “conferred the greatest benefit to humanity”. . The different categories of the award, which are awarded each year at the beginning of October, are delivered in Stockholm, in a ceremony presided over by the King of Sweden, Carl XVI Gustaf, while the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded and delivered in Oslo.
The change of focus at the Nobel Foundation also includes the national politics of the two countries involved. Not only are all countries with diplomatic missions in Sweden and Norway invited to the events in 2023, but also all parties “that have parliamentary representation through democratic elections”, that is, also far-right parties.
Traditionally, the leaders of political parties are invited to the awards ceremony, which is presided over by the King of Sweden, Carl XVI Gustaf. Jimmie Åkesson, leader of the far-right Swedish Democrats (SD) party, was not invited to the gala. He this time he has been sent the invitation, but Åkesson declined it on his Facebook account, stating: “Unfortunately, that day I am busy.” The SD party came second in the Swedish elections in September 2022, and since October of that year the ultra party has provided external support to the minority coalition government of Conservative Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.
In its statement, the Nobel Foundation maintains that the prizes (science, medicine, literature, peace or economy, among others) “represent the opposite of polarization, populism and nationalism”, that “the achievements recognized by the Nobel Prize require openness, exchange and dialogue between peoples and nations”, and that, therefore, the foundation “wants to convey this message to everyone, even to those who do not share the values ??of the Nobel Prize”.
