Thomas Nilsen

Widerøe pilots lost GPS signal 27 times so far in December

“This creates big problems for us. We lose one of the systems that we normally use for navigation,” says spokesperson Catharina Solli with the regional airliner Widerøe.
December 22, 2022

Shoigu vows more troops near Nordic countries

The Russian Defense Minister argues that "retaliatory measures are required" as Finland and Sweden now join NATO.
December 21, 2022

Electrification will cut CO2 emissions to zero at Hammerfest LNG

Petroleum company Equinor and partners on Tuesday submitted a billions-worth investment plan to upgrade production and eliminate greenhouse gas emissions at Europe's northernmost production plant for liquid natural gas (LNG).
December 20, 2022

Most expedition cruise liners exclude Russian Arctic

The war on Ukraine and geopolitical turbulence with concerns growing of further escalations of tensions with Russia have knock-on effects for the cruise industry, expert says.
December 20, 2022

Putin orders FSB to step up border control

“The FSB Border Guard Service must step up its work,” the President said in his video-recorded message on Security Service Day.
December 20, 2022

Arctic brigade severely weakened

If Vladimir Putin really was afraid of NATO you would have thought one of the last brigades he would order to invade Ukraine was the one protecting the border near Russia’s nuclear submarines on the Kola Peninsula. He chose otherwise.
December 19, 2022

Chibis sanctioned for involvement in child kidnapping

The EU has listed Murmansk Governor Andrei Chibis in its latest response to Russia’s brutal war of aggression against Ukraine.
December 18, 2022

Murmansk terminates sister city relations with Akureyri

Russia’s war aggression isolates the country’s largest Arctic city. Previously, the Nordic cities Luleå, Rovaniemi and Tromsø have all terminated sister cities agreements. Today, Murmansk itself decided to cut ties with Akureyri.
December 15, 2022

Specially designed for Arctic flights, Murmansk gets two new rescue helicopters

Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations deploys two brand new Mi-8 helicopters to its Arctic rescue center on the Kola Peninsula.
December 15, 2022

Rebranded ecological youth group declared foreign agent

The Arkhangelsk-based Ecological Movement “42” is one of the first to be listed after Russia on December 1 drastically expanded the oppressive foreign agent legislation. The eco-group was started after Aetas environmental organization in 2017 was declared foreign agents and shut down.
December 12, 2022

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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