Venezuela announced on Monday it would close its embassy in Oslo, days after opposition leader María Corina Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Axar.az informs, citing BBC, in a statement, the Venezuelan government did not comment on Machado's prize, saying that the closure was part of a restructuring of its foreign service.

Norway's foreign ministry confirmed that Caracas had closed its embassy in Oslo without providing a reason.

The Nobel Committee in Oslo awarded her the prize on Friday in recognition of what it called "her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela", while Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro referred to the 58-year-old laureate as a "demonic witch".

The Norwegian foreign ministry called the decision "regrettable".

"Despite our differences on several issues, Norway wishes to keep the dialogue open with Venezuela and will continue to work in this direction," a ministry spokeswoman said.

She added that the Nobel Prize "is independent of the Norwegian government".