The Sevmorput and Newnew Polar Bear sailed over the Balticconnector and the telecom cable in pair at the time the damage occurred. Now, they are following each other outside northern Norway, en route to Asia via the northern coast of Siberia.
Not one single member was against when the lower house of the Russian parliament on Tuesday voted to revoke ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).
The seven-meter-high orthodox cross erected in August is of importance for the entire Christian world and a tribute to those Russians who discovered Svalbard, according to Ildar Neverov, director of Trust Arcticugol.
The physical facilities at Storskog border checkpoint do not meet the Norwegian standards required for carrying out control. From Friday, Russia's most important land gateway for export of cod and haddock to Europe is closed.
This is a response to NATO enlargement in Northern Europe and expected further changes in allied defense posture, says Professor Katarzyna Zysk with the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies.
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.