The war strengthens ties between Russia and Northern Norway

Entrance to the Kirkenes Public Library with inscriptions in Norwegian and Russian on April 23. Luis Manuel Rivas

There is uncertainty in the Norwegian city of Kirkenes. On Friday, Alexander Grusev, the last Russian ship the population will see this year, docked in the harbor. Truck drivers no longer come from a neighboring country; Products made in Russia will be banned at the border from Saturday. Kirkenes not only regrets the economic blow to the region; The Russian invasion of Ukraine evaporated decades of cooperation between the two sides of the border.

10% of the 3,500 inhabitants of Kirkenes, which lies 400 km north of the Arctic Circle, are Russian-speaking. Signs, on the street or in the public library, are in Norwegian and Slavic, and the shipyard, one of the city’s main employers, worked mainly with ships arriving from the port of Murmansk, Russia’s largest city. Arctic. For decades, a market with matryoshkas and Soviet insignia was set up every week in Kirkenes, the residents traveled in their cars to Russia to fill tanks, vodka was plentiful and cultural and sporting events with Russian participants were frequent. A completely reversible future for a neighbor is still hard to imagine.

There is only one border point between the two countries: Storskog, 15 kilometers from Kirkenes. Every day, Norwegian and Russian border guards open their barriers at eight in the morning and bring them back at three in the afternoon; Nobody gets through the next 17 hours. Border activity was never fully remedied due to restrictions imposed by the pandemic. In 2019, 266,000 people crossed; Last year less than 15,000 (in about 40 days). Norway’s border commissioner Jens Arne Hillund acknowledged that there has been a “certain increase” in the number of private cars owned by Russian citizens since the start of the war, affected by his country’s European veto.

Several Russian trucks near the Storskog border post in late April. Luis Rivas

On the Norwegian side, there’s virtually nothing around the border: a square mile of tundra, some pine trees, lots of wet snow that has accumulated since late September, and a dilapidated souvenir shop. It seems that the owner is not weighed down by a lack of customers: “I don’t want any Russians here. “I wasn’t allowed to cross the road,” said Orian Nielsen, a Septuagint resident who biked more than 20 miles a day with his dog, an Alaskan Malamute, to open his humble little shop. It works every week, so nobody buys anything; Some products have been on display for years. Among them are several magnets created by Vladimir Putin in 2001. “Then it just came to our attention [Iósif] “Stalin,” Nielsen said, pointing to objects on the Russian president. “Here we all knew for years that he was a dictator and a murderer; “All except Rune Rafaelsen, of course.”

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Call Orian Nielsen at his “souvenir” shop. Luis Rivas

Nielsen refers to the former mayor of the municipality of Sor-Varanger (the administrative center is Kirkenes), who resigned a year ago due to a heart condition. Several Norwegians better reflect decades of partnership with their giant neighbor; And few have been involved in so much controversy. In October 2019, Rafaelsen gave a speech in Kirkenes, attended by several Norwegian and Russian dignitaries, including Sergei Lavrov, foreign minister since 2004, where he praised the Soviet troops who liberated the city from occupation in 1944. “And Putin told me I’m worthy of the Order of Friendship,” the Social Democrat said on the phone.

A few days after Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, Rafaelsen arrived at the post office to send his 2020 medal to the Russian ambassador in Oslo. “I made it clear that I would not accept Putin’s scenario that led to war and violates international law,” he said. The 72-year-old former mayor says he is “deeply shocked” by the attitude of Lavrov, whom he has met several times over the past two decades.

“I have devoted more than 40 years to strengthening ties with the USSR and Russia. “I have always argued that border areas should be areas of friendship and opportunity,” said Rafaelsen, who also headed the Barents secretariat for many years. This organization, responsible for promoting cooperation between the two countries, had frozen its activities since the beginning of the war; Such as the Arctic Council and other forums in which Oslo and Moscow participated. There will also be no more joint rescue exercises in the waters of the Arctic Ocean. “No official contact should be resumed until everything changes in the Kremlin,” Rafaelsen added.

Russia’s mistrust also means a greater military presence in the north. The Norwegian government announced in March that it would spend another SEK 3 billion (€310 million) on defense this year. A third goes to purchase ammunition, light weapons and basic military equipment. “We must be prepared to defend ourselves for a long time if necessary,” said Per Eric Sol, a researcher at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. Coastguard teams, the army unit responsible for border patrols and the air force will be significantly strengthened. Soli, a retired colonel, points out that these are only urgent measures that can be taken in parallel with other long-term work.

Oslo will also increase resources for Arctic espionage activities, particularly around Kirkenes. Norwegian secret services have been operating close to the border since the 1950s. Their priority has always been the submarines in the Barents Sea, which are loaded with more than 400 nuclear weapons. the intent “Everything is more unpredictable now,” he said.

View of Kirkenes, late April.Louis Rivas

“Kirkenes is the geopolitical center of Norway. “Nothing is happening in Oslo,” said former mayor Rafaelsen. Local resident Freud Berg was arrested in Moscow in 2017 for €3,000 in cash, charged with trying to obtain confidential information. They released him in 2019 in exchange for secrets. In early April, the Norwegian government announced it was investing just over €10 million in the north of the country to “address hybrid threats and espionage”.

Relations between Oslo and Moscow were kept to a minimum. Hillund, the Border Commissioner, is in charge of 200 police officers who perform “practical and necessary functions” on the Norwegian side of the 197km-long border between the two countries. Including clearing vegetation and maintaining alarms. These tasks are governed by the 1949 bilateral pact, which also stipulates the number of annual meetings between Hillund and his Russian counterpart, or a protocol of action for arbitrary border crossings. “The deal survived the entire Cold War, Perestroika, [la anexión rusa de] “In any case, Crimea must be preserved,” he said.

Soviet Liberation Memorial, April 22 in Kirkenes. Luis Rivas

The residents of Kirkenes, who live in an area where the population density is much lower than in any other province in Spain, have known for years about the pharaonic projects for the city. Some saw the nonstop melting of the Arctic as a huge opportunity: The city’s port is closest to China along Europe’s northern sea route. Chinese ships are still waiting. And the Russians don’t expect them anymore. December 2019 is still a long way off, when Rafaelsen told the French newspaper Le Monde: “Kirkenes will be the new Singapore”.

NATO reveals muscles in the Arctic

For three weeks in March and April, at the height of the war in Ukraine, NATO conducted large-scale military exercises in the Norwegian Arctic. More than 30,000 soldiers from allied countries took part in this edition of Cold Response, a two-year exercise in the Scandinavian country. Christian Atland of the Defense Investigation Agency (FFI) says this year’s land, sea and air exercises were “successful” despite the tragic death of four US Marines in a downed helicopter.

For the first time in Norway, the Alliance’s maneuvers were planned in Oslo rather than at the organization’s headquarters in Brussels. These military exercises allow the Scandinavian country and its allies to demonstrate “the ability to act together in extreme weather conditions,” Atlanta said. For Norway, a founding member of NATO but which does not allow permanent bases of foreign troops on its territory, these exercises are fundamental in demonstrating the ability to coordinate Allied forces. The Norwegian Armed Forces have already announced that Cold Response 2024 will be the largest military trial ever conducted in the country.

The possible near-term accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO will significantly strengthen the containment capabilities of the transatlantic organization in Northern Europe. “Both countries have a lot to offer the alliance,” Atlanta said. “And it was Russia that got this sudden turnaround, which will bring so little benefit,” he said.

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