Iran and Russia invited to Nobel Prize luncheon

The Nobel Foundation says that Russia and Belarus have been asked to attend the Nobel Prize banquet in Stockholm again. They were not invited last year because of the war in Ukraine.

Iran has been asked to come back to the event that is happening in the capital of Sweden, even though they were not allowed to go last year.

The organization wanted to include everyone, even if they didn’t have the same beliefs as the Nobel Prize.

One Member of the European Parliament from Sweden said that this year’s invitations were very in appropriate.

Jimmie Akesson, the leader of the Sweden Democrats party, who is against immigration,got invited to an event this year. However, he said he couldn’t go because he had a lot of other important things to do.

Five out of the six Nobel Prize ceremonies happen in Stockholm every year, but the Nobel Peace Prize is given in Oslo.

Last year, the Nobel Foundation said they would not invite ambassadors from Russia and Belarus because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Belarus is an important friend of Russia, and its leader, Alexander Lukashenko, supported Russia’s “special military operation,”which was their way of describing the invasion of Ukraine in February of last year.

Iran did not receive an invitation last year. Tehran has been strongly criticized for how it treats people’s rights. The United Nations has said that the government in that country may have done very bad things to its people during their aggressive response to protests last year.

Vidar Helgesen, the person in charge of the Nobel Foundation, said that they decided to invite the countries back because they see that the world is becoming more divided. People with different opinions are talking less to each other.

“Top revent this inclination, we are expanding our invitations to acknowledge and comprehend the Nobel Prize and the significance of unrestricted science, unrestricted culture, and free, peaceful communities. “

The Foundation has been accused by Swedish Liberal MEP Karin Karlsbro of doing something bad by allowing Russia to be invited to a fancy party while missiles are falling on Ukrainian cultural centers and killing children.

Speaking on Swedish public radio, she referred to Russia, Belarus, and Iran as “rogue states. “She described them as countries that oppress their own citizens, engage in warfare, and spread terror to their own people and nearby nations.

She said that there are countries that do not believe in democratic values a tall. There is fighting happening in Europe. [They have] a very simplistic view point. This text means that it weakens the unity we need in society.

In the past, the leader of the Sweden Democrats political party, Jimmie Akesson, was not invited to the banquet that Swedish political party leaders usually attend.

His party was started by people who supported the Nazis and was avoided by most people for many years. It receivedabout20% of the votes in the election last year.

Mr Akesson said he will not come. “Regrettably,I am occupied on that specific day,” he expressed on his Facebook post.