Norway’s foreign ministry confirmed on Monday that Venezuela had suddenly closed its embassy in Oslo. The closure comes just days after Maria Corina Machado, leader of the opposition in Venezuela, won the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to restore democracy and free elections in her country.

The Nobel Peace Prize is always chosen by the Norwegian Nobel Committee and awarded in Oslo, but is independent and has no ties to the Norwegian government. Opponents of winners often don’t seem to understand that, and blame Norway or the government for selecting winners they don’t like.

Oslo newspaper VG reported on Monday that no one was taking the phone at the embassy and then it was suddenly disconnected. That prompted the message from the foreign ministry that it had “received information from Venezuela’s embassy that they were closing the embassy,” without citing any reason for the closure.

“Even though we have different views on several issues, Norway wants to keep the dialogue with Venezuela open and will work towards that,” ministry spokesperson Cecilie Roang wrote in a message to VG. It remained unclear whether the embassy closure had anything to do with the Peace Prize to Machado, who remains in hiding in Venezuela. Roang stressed that the Nobel Committee operates independently of the Norwegian government.

NewsinEnglish.no staff