Atle Staalesen

Ahead of deportation, Syrian families flee from police

KIRKENES: Terrified refugees with children try to make it to safe haven in local church ahead of ejection to Russia. Police detains two local Norwegians for assisting the migrants.
January 21, 2016

Lukoil might leave Kirkenes

The oil company considers to move reloading of its Arctic oil to Murmansk.
January 21, 2016

”The migrants must understand that this is dangerous”

Regional authorities are starting to inform migrants about the major risks linked with border-crossing to Finland in the current freezing weather, Murmansk deputy governor says.
January 20, 2016

Quicker visas for Russians

Amid a sharp decline in visa applications and cross-border traveling, Russian northerners will soon be able to obtain travel documents to Norway in only 3 days.
January 20, 2016

Yamal showtime for Putin

On this remotest Arctic coast, 13000 workers are now building Russia’s new giant LNG plant, Novatek leader Mikhelson tells President Putin.
January 19, 2016

Lawyers sue state over Arctic oil drilling

”This will be the court case of the century,” Norwegian Supreme Court lawyer Pål W. Lorentzen says about the planned legal action against the Norwegian state.
January 18, 2016

Gold miners encroach on national park

Company GV Gold intends to build a mine in the UNESCO-protected Yigid-Va park in the Komi Republic.
January 15, 2016

Barents wants more cooperation

All the involved countries want this to remain an open channel for east-wast cooperation, leader of the International Barents Secretariat Tomas Hallberg says. He is backed by a new study which concludes that experts engaged in regional working groups seek more cross-border activity.
January 15, 2016

Oil from Novy Port arrives in Murmansk

A first load of oil from the new Yamal field is delivered by Murmansk Shipping Company.
January 13, 2016

Soros books burning

Publications issued by George Soros' Open Society Foundation are set ablaze in the Komi Republic. The book fires come just few months after the liberal foundation was banned from Russia.
January 13, 2016

Pages

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