Thomas Nilsen

Russian MFA: Oslo destabilizes the situation in the north

Washington’s decision to pull out 700 US Marines from Norway is met with skepticism by a Russian foreign ministry spokesperson, who believes the move in reality could mean a significantly strengthening of American military activity in northern Norway.
August 08, 2020

Russian Indigenous groups call on Elon Musk not to buy battery metals from Nornickel

Tesla is a world leader in electric cars, while Nornickel is a global leader in environmental damage. This doesn’t match, claims Aborigen Forum, a network of independent experts, activists and Russian indigenous groups who see their homeland being destroyed by pollution.
August 07, 2020

Norway lifts travel restrictions for north Swedish region

Västerbotten is now included in the government’s updated travel advice, so people entering Norway from the region will no longer have to home quarantine.
August 06, 2020

Norway bans all cruise ships with 100+ on board, but Ponant is still selling tickets for next week's luxury Svalbard voyage

Le Boréal is currently the only expedition cruise ship sailing the waters around the Norwegian Arctic archipelago.
August 06, 2020

Tree leaves dying days after massive air-pollution cloud

Several square kilometers west of the factories in Monchegorsk on the Kola Peninsula are affected.
August 03, 2020

Powerful Russian Oscar-II submarine sails north outside Norway

The nuclear-powered cruise missile carrier Orel is returning home to the Kola Peninsula after participating in the Main Naval Parade in St. Petersburg in late July.
August 02, 2020

EU seeks input to new Arctic strategy, asks NGOs and indigenous peoples to contribute

EU wants to play a key role as geopolitics and climate changes dramatically transform the north. Public consultation for a new Arctic policy is now open.
August 02, 2020

Battery factory in northern Sweden raises $1,6 billion, signs deal with BMW

The European car industry’s transition to electric power-trains, combined with financial institutions hunt for green projects, proves successful for Northvolt, which now says it targets a 25 percent market share in Europe’s battery production by 2030.
August 02, 2020

Construction starts for FSB's large icebreaking patrol vessel

Increased attention to Russia’s Arctic zone from foreign states require us to build such ships, said Vladimir Kulishov, chief of FSB’s border guard service.
August 01, 2020

Hurtigruten cancels Svalbard cruise as 35 crew members are diagnosed with COVID-19

"The vessel is in isolation at port in Tromsø," Hurtigruten announces in a press statement.
July 31, 2020

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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