The Norwegian royals were on hand as the Nobel Peace Prize winners received their awards in Oslo’s City Hall.
Belarusian human rights defender Ales Bialiatski, Ukrainian Center for Civil Liberties group and the Russian organisation Memorial were all awarded for their work in defending human rights and promoting the right to criticise those in power.
Berit Reiss-Andersen, the head of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, called the group “champions for peace” and cited their “unprecedented effort to document war crimes, violations of human rights and abuse of power.”
Natallia Pintsjuk accepted the award on behalf of her husband, Ales Bialiatski, who has been imprisoned in Belarus for his work in human rights. She said the prize gave her husband the strength not to stop fighting for democracy.
The chairmen of Memorial and Center for Civil Rights, Jan Raczynskij and Oleksandra Matviytchuk, respectively, accepted the awards on behalf of their organisations.
Memorial was shut down last year by the Russian government.
The Russian winner, Jan Raczynskij, said that Russian authorities told him to decline the award because his co-awardees were “inappropriate.”
Raczynskij blasted Putin’s war in Ukraine, calling it “insane and criminal,” and told the world that resistance in Russia is deemed to be fascism, which has become “the ideological justification for the insane and criminal war of aggression against Ukraine.”
Matviytchuk said Ukraine could not have peace by laying down its weapons. She said that “would not be peace, but occupation.”
The Royal Family greeted the Nobel Committee and winners at City Hall and congratulated those awarded for their work.
Ahead of the presentation of the awards, King Harald hosted the winners in the Royal Palace alongside Queen Sonja, Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit.
The Crown Prince Couple were also invited to a separate celebration in the morning where Save the Children hosted an event for children at the Nobel Peace Center. Twelve seventh graders from the schools in Grünerløkka, Kampen and Vålerenga organised this year’s event and led the morning’s celebrations.
The Norwegian Royal Family will join the Nobel winners at the Grand Hotel this evening for a gala dinner to conclude the Nobel Peace Prize festivities in Oslo.
