The Nobel Foundation has reversed the decision to include representatives from Russia, Belarus, and Iran to attend its annual prize ceremonies.
Swedish and Ukrainian political leaders had condemned the possible attendance of the envoys at the prestigious awards which take place in Oslo.
Last year, ambassadors from Russia and Belarus, whose leader Alexander Lukashenko has facilitated Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion, were barred from attending the prize ceremonies and banquets.
Getty Images/Ragnar Singsaas
The Iranian envoy was excluded last year over protests in the Islamic republic sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, who was accused of violating Iran’s rules requiring women to cover their heads with a hijab, or headscarf.
The Nobel Foundation said in a statement on Saturday it would “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,” Agence France Press reported.
This is a breaking story and will be updated with further information.