Thomas Nilsen

Not all unsanctioned rallies are met with police crackdown

No black helmets, no batons, no OMON uniforms. Not one single police insight as about 100 people took part in an unsanctioned rally in the center of Arkhangelsk this weekend. The organizer is unknown, but a video of the event posted on social media is concluded with the words "Pomorie For Putin."
February 08, 2021

Norway intelligence warns about new nuclear weapons technology developed by Russia

Technology runs ahead of international arms treaties and several of the new systems are tested and will be deployed near Norwegian territory in the north.
February 08, 2021

U.S. Air Force to refuel Finnish fighter jets up north

Lapland Air Force this week organizes the an air refueling exercise with U.S. tanker aircraft.
February 08, 2021

Russia and the U.S. extend nuclear arms treaty

No room for another unconstrained nuclear arms race as President Putin and President Biden in a last-minute call agreed to extend the New Start Treaty until February 5, 2026.
February 04, 2021

Containers next for Northern Sea Route, new terminal one step closer to realization in Murmansk

The 42 billion rubles (€461 million) transit terminal will be located between Lavna and Belokamenka on the west side of the Kola Bay.
February 02, 2021

Restart of controversial mine could bring hundreds of jobs and billions in turnover, report

To mine or not to mine? That is the question when Finnish authorities and the population in western Lapland have to weight between harm and profit.
February 02, 2021

Despite intensified crackdown, Russian youth staged fresh protests

More than 4,000 protesters are detained all over Russia on Sunday as Navalny’s allies took to the streets in the second round of protests against corruption and Putin’s totalitarianism.
January 31, 2021

Iron ore miner takes lead in development of all-electric heavy truck for Arctic roads

If you thought a battery-powered heavy truck can’t work at -44°C below zero, think again. A unique pilot project takes place in northern Sweden this winter.
January 31, 2021

Northern Norway battery maker plans giga-factory, New York stock listing

FREYR Battery is expected to receive $850 million, enabling the company to build a giant 43 GWh battery cell production just under the Arctic Circle by 2025.
January 29, 2021

Calling attention to climate emergency, Lapland town Salla launches parody bid for 2032 Summer Olympics

"Please, don’t let these games happen," the municipal authorities in Salla writes in their call to host the 2032 Summer Olympics.
January 29, 2021

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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