Russia, Belarus ambassadors barred from Nobel ceremony

STOCKHOLM — The ambassadors of Russia and Belarus have been excluded from this year’s Nobel Prize ceremony in Stockholm because of the war in Ukraine.

The Nobel Foundation, a private foundation which administers the prestigious awards, normally invites ambassadors stationed in Sweden to the annual award ceremony on Dec. 10.

“But due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Nobel Foundation has chosen not to invite the ambassadors of Russia and Belarus to the Nobel Prize ceremony in Stockholm,” it said in a statement Tuesday.

The foundation also said it would continue its practice of inviting the leaders of all parties in the Swedish Parliament, except the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats.

The group, which has sought to distance itself from its far-right roots, won more than 20% of the vote in Sweden’s Sept. 11 election to become the country’s second biggest political party and a close partner of the new center-right government.

The Nobel Foundation said it saw no reason to reconsider its previous decision to leave out the Sweden Democrats, noting that the Nobel Prizes are “based on respect for science, culture, humanism and internationalism.”

The Nobel Prizes are always handed out on Dec. 10, the anniversary of prize founder Alfred Nobel’s death in 1896.