Atle Staalesen

Moscow mulls tougher action against oil polluters of Arctic coast

Legislation on oil spills along the country’s vulnerable northern coast should be no less strict than in open Arctic waters, the country’s Presidential Envoy on Environment argues.
March 23, 2017

French explorer looses case against Svalbard Governor

Gilles Elkaim argued that local Norwegian authorities violated the Svalbard Treaty when they restricted his movements on the archipelago. The court did not agree.
March 22, 2017

On Russia’s remotest Arctic coast, a wind power plant

Preparations are underway for the erection of wind turbines in the town of Tiksi.
March 21, 2017

Court extends arrest of Yuri Dmitriev

The Karelian historian and human rights leader will have to spend more weeks behind bars.
March 21, 2017

Russia’s North Pole station in the making

Two helicopters are on their way to find a suitable ice floe for the Barneo-2017. Like previous years, the Norwegian airport of Longyearbyen will serve as logistical hub for the camp.
March 20, 2017

Come visit this center, environmentalists in border town Nikel say

No halt in cooperation on the border between Russia, Norway and Finland. On the contrary - we want more contact, says Vladimir Chizhov as he officially opens the new Visit Center of the Pasvik Nature Reserve.
March 17, 2017

More Chinese tourists choose Murmansk

They are now the biggest group of foreign travellers in the Russian Arctic region, almost twice as many as the ones from neighbouring Nordic states.
March 16, 2017

Journalist Union protests Russia’s expulsion of Thomas Nilsen

It is a violation of the European Human Rights Convention and we have reported it to the Council of Europe, the Norwegian Union of Journalists says in a letter sent to the Russian Embassy in Oslo.
March 15, 2017

Rare birds around Arctic oil field - no problem

Unique populations of birds nicely nest alongside the new Novy Port oil project, researchers hired by company Gazprom Neft say.
March 14, 2017

Murmansk counts on Chinese investors

Regional authorities say Poly International will invest $300 million in the projected Lavna coal terminal.
March 14, 2017

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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.

atle@thebarentsobserver.com
@atlestaalesen