Thomas Nilsen

Community at Siberian university strongly condemns war in Ukraine

A community of students, graduates, teachers and other employees of Novosibirsk State University has published a sensational statement calling for the Russian army to immediately stop the war and leave Ukraine.
April 18, 2022

British aircraft carrier visits remote island in Norwegian Arctic

The "HMS Prince of Wales" made a rare visit to Jan Mayen before sailing deeper into the Arctic for harsh cold climate operations.
April 16, 2022

NATO’s northern flank would be more robust if Sweden and Finland join, expert says

A possible NATO membership for Finland and Sweden would be the biggest redrawing of the military map in northernmost Europe since the breakup of the Soviet Union.
April 15, 2022

Arctic projects must not be postponed because of sanctions, Putin orders

"We have all the resources and all the opportunities to quickly find alternative solutions," Putin told the participants of the meeting on the development of the Arctic zone.
April 14, 2022

U.S. amphibious combat group deploys to the high north amid high tensions

800 soldiers from the fast responding U.S. Marine Expeditionary Unit have arrived in Tromsø, making ready for joint winter training with Norwegian troops.
April 12, 2022

Tensions are high, but no plans to terminate visa-free travel

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed a decree suspending simplified visa rules for a group of citizens from countries that Moscow deems unfriendly, including Norway. Visa-free travel in the border areas up north, however, is for now not affected.
April 07, 2022

Oslo expels three diplomates from Russian Embassy

"The three individuals have carried out activities that are incompatible with their diplomatic status," Minister of Foreign Affairs Anniken Huitfeldt said.
April 06, 2022

Europe banning Russian coal will hit hard on Murmansk and Barentsburg

More sanctions are coming from Brussels in response to the brutal killings in Bucha, the suburb northwest of Kyiv.
April 06, 2022

In northern Norway, fears grow over saboteurs, spies and influence operations

Eastern Finnmark with the border to Russia is very close-on and the new security situation is highly topical here, said Emilie Enger Mehl, Minister of Justice and Public Security, as the government chose the border town of Kirkenes when presenting an extraordinary boost in funding to the security police.
April 06, 2022

Murmansk population down by 8,700

Regional authorities in 2019 presented a great plan on how to boost the population. Since then, Murmansk Oblast has seen a dramatic decline of 3,16%.
April 05, 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