Thomas Nilsen

Anniversary voyage 40 years after «Arktika» conquered the North Pole

On August 17, 1977, nuclear powered icebreaker «Arktika» became the first surface ship to reach the North Pole.
May 24, 2017

Norway calls army snap drill in the north

Northern Brigade kick-started a military drill Sunday evening by moving battle tanks to Evenes airport.
May 22, 2017

Norway builds new bridge to Russia

Here comes the new bridge to cross the mouth of the Pasvik river on Europe’s northernmost cross-border highway to Russia.
May 19, 2017

Finnair cancels Murmansk flights due to late spring

With ice on the rivers, the interest in going for fly fishing on the Kola Peninsula is limited.
May 19, 2017

Nuclear waste removal starts in Andreeva Bay

Landmark event when the first few spent nuclear fuel elements were unloaded from one of the run-down Cold War storage tanks.
May 18, 2017

Less seals on the menu for hungry polar bears

More bad climate news for the largest predator of the Arctic.
May 18, 2017

Nightless nights – Midnight sun is back

From tonight, the sun doesn’t set at this panorama view in Finnmark until July 26.
May 17, 2017

FSB gets right to confiscate land from people

Privately owned property and related real estate can from now on be seized for needs of the state.
May 16, 2017

Arctic Challenge 2017 set for take off

More than 100 aircrafts from 12 nations will crowd the skies over northern Finland, Sweden and Norway.
May 16, 2017

NATO parliamentarians on visit to Russian border

When visiting Svalbard Moscow said it was “provocative”, but all was peaceful when the same lawmakers on Thursday walked all the way to Russia’s borderline with Norway.
May 12, 2017

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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