‘Nobel prize committee focuses on political correctness’

The decision to award Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov the Nobel Prize for Peace is a sign the committee is driven by the idea of political correctness, the country’s deputy foreign minister has said.

“Soon we will also see how these people would judge on physics, chemistry, healthcare and everything else, based on their ideas on political correctness and not on meritocracy that we favour and that we promote,” Sergei Ryabkov told BBC Hardtalk’s Stephen Sackur.

Mr Muratov is the editor of independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta. He dedicated the prize - which was jointly awarded to the Filipino journalist Maria Ressa - to Russian journalists who worked at the newspaper and had been killed because of their work.

The Kremlin, which has frequently opposed the paper, has congratulated Mr Muratov on the award.

Watch the full interview on BBC World News on Tuesday 12 and Wednesday 13 October 2021 or watch again on BBC iPlayer (UK only)

12 October 2021