For more than 30 hours, representatives of civil society, academia and public service read loud the 700 page report about Norwegianization of the Sámi people, Kvens/Norwegian Finns and Forest Finns.
At the same time as Moscow deployed nuclear weapons in Belarus, top delegations from Minsk arrived in the far northern and heavy militarized Kola Peninsula.
The regional leader of the north Russian Komi Republic looked like a man of divine protection as he appeared on the frontline to deliver an armoured version of the UAZ Bukhanka (break loaf).
War and sanctions notwithstanding, Russian state oilmen proceed with the development of the Vostok Oil project. It is to produce more than 100 million tons of oil per year and will be paramount for Putin to reach his much-desired ambitions for Arctic shipping.
The powerful vessel that is built for naval escorts through remote and icy waters did not sail the Northern Sea Route on its maiden voyage from St.Petersburg to the Russian Far East.
The Russian state company Trust Arktikugol organised a May 9th parade in the settlement of Pyramiden. It included a snowmobile, a car, bulldozer and excavator. And a flag of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic.
Atle is journalist and Publisher of the Independent Barents Observer.
In 2002, he founded the Barents Observer. He was editor until 2009 and later worked as journalist and project coordinator for several European cross-border cooperation projects. In late 2015, following a conflict over editorial rights, he re-established the Barents Observer as an independent and non-profit stock company along with the rest of the newspaper crew.
Atle has a degree in Russian studies from the University of Oslo and studied journalism at the Moscow State University.