Thomas Nilsen

Norway closes borders over fears of virus, but exempts Russian fishermen from severely infected border region

From January 29, as a main rule, only Norwegian citizens and foreigners with residence in Norway will be allowed to enter. Seafarers crossing the border from Murmansk region, however, still get permission to drive to ports in northern Norway.
January 28, 2021

Violetta Grudina detained in Murmansk as Navalny supporters plan new protests

Navalny’s political motivated arrest, protest against corruption, economical repression and a more totalitarian state are the main reasons why Russians take to the streets.
January 27, 2021

Ambassador Vasiliev lists Russia's new Arctic priorities with focus on fossil fuels and positive effects of climate changes

Russia takes over the chair of the Arctic Council in May for the coming two-year period.
January 27, 2021

Norway cancels allied exercise over COVID-19 safety concerns

Nearly 3,000 NATO soldiers from the Netherlands, Great Britain, Germany and the United States can pack up and leave northern Norway as the government on Tuesday called off the Joint Viking exercise and other allied winter training.
January 26, 2021

Is this Russia's new coastal base for the 'doomsday nuke' drones?

Vladimir Putin's Russia is indeed seriously going to deploy a new leg to its nuclear triad, the unmanned underwater nuclear-powered Poseidon. A multi-billion storage and maintenance facility at the Kola Peninsula will be up and running by June 2022, aimed at serving at least 30 such drones.
January 26, 2021

Hundreds of Navalny supporters joined protest in Murmansk

Murmansk police did not interfere when protesters at the Five Corner Square shouted "Putin is a thief" and "We are the power here" as they demanded the release of anti-corruption activist Aleksei Navalny.
January 23, 2021

Despite crackdowns and freezing cold, Navalny supporters make ready for Saturday's demonstrations

The Ministry of Educations calls on parents to make sure their kids stay away from the rallies that will take place across Russia, including seven cities in the Murmansk region.
January 22, 2021

Honoring Soviet dictator: Murmansk Communists say time has come to raise a monument of Stalin

68 years after his death, Josef Stalin could make a comeback to Russia's Arctic capital where the location of his bust now is debated.
January 20, 2021

Disney to shoot climate change drama at Svalbard

Few places see a more dramatic impact of climate changes than Svalbard, where sea ice vanishes, glaciers shrink, and permafrost thaws.
January 18, 2021

Norway extends border closure with Finland

Full closure at the border in Neiden and limited opening hours at Tana, Karasjok and Kautokeino as Norway introduces obligatory COVID-19 tests for all incoming travelers.
January 17, 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