Thomas Nilsen

Two nuclear warheads still on Arctic seabed 30 years after Komsomolets disaster

41 crew members died when the submarine sank on April 7th 1989. Norwegian and Russian researchers will this summer send down an ROV to measure possible radioactive leakages from the wreak.
April 06, 2019

Video: Russian bombers outside Norway for second time in a week

A pair of Tu-160 strategic bombers made 13-hours flight over the Barents-, Norwegian- and North Seas.
April 04, 2019

Murmansk population drops further

There are now less than three quarter of a million people living on the Kola Peninsula.
April 03, 2019

Russian sub launched cruise missile without leaving port

"Severodvinsk" is Russia's most advanced submarine and is based less than 60 km from the border to Norway.
April 03, 2019

Icelandic President to discuss Arctic Council leadership with Putin

Before Iceland takes over the chair of Arctic Council in May, President Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson will talk cooperation with the Russian President.
April 02, 2019

Electric cars set sales record in Norway with 58% market share

In times of global warming, policy measures with tax exemptions makes Norway the third largest market for electric vehicles in the world, after China and the United States.
April 01, 2019

US and Russian bombers on same day missions outside Norway

Both the American B-52 and the Russian Tu-160 are capable of carrying nuclear weapons.
March 30, 2019

Sweden’s PM Löfven up for Arctic talks with Putin

Sustainable development is on the agenda when Prime Minister Stefan Löfven travels to Russia’s Arctic Forum in St. Petersburg in April.
March 26, 2019

Lindblad Expeditions signs deal for second cruise ship with highest ice-class

Will accommodate 126 passengers and be able to sail in some of the most remote and pristine parts of the world.
March 25, 2019

100 consecutive months with above normal temperatures at Svalbard

«Some months have seen temperatures in the area around Longyearbyen with as much as 12-14 degrees over normal,» says climate researcher Ketil Isaksen with the Norwegian Meteorological Institute.
March 25, 2019

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Thomas Nilsen is editor of the Independent Barents Observer with its news desk located in Kirkenes, northern Norway. He has a long experience in media cooperation across the borders in the high north of Europe, both as radio- and newspaper reporter all the way back to the days before the breakup of the Soviet Union. 

Nilsen has been editor of Barents Observer since 2009.

He was Deputy Head of the Norwegian Barents Secretariat from 2004-2009. Until 2003, he worked 12 years for the Bellona Foundation’s Russian study group, focusing on nuclear safety issues and general environmental challenges in northern areas and the Arctic. 

Thomas has been traveling extensively across northern Scandinavia and Arctic Russia since the late 80’s working for different media and organizations. He is also a guide at sea and in remote locations in the Russian north for various groups and regularly lectures on security issues, environmental and socio-economic development.

Thomas Nilsen studied at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

Mobile: +47-90573143

thomas@thebarentsobserver.com
@nilsen.thomas