We must build a free and just society, Vladimir Putin underlined in today’s inauguration speech. But the young protesters who this weekend rallied in the streets of Murmansk and other Russian cities do not believe him.
He got overwhelming support in military towns. But no places seem to beat Sabetta, the natural gas hub on the Yamal coast, where more than 95 percent of the electorate voted for the sitting president.
Any attempts to stir public disorder must be contained and educational institutions are a special priority, the president made clear in his recent meeting with the country’s Interior Ministry.
Last autumn, the Government of Finland decided to start preparing a reconciliation process dealing with Sámi issues. The process took its first steps on the 10th of February in Inari, when a seminar was held on what the reconciliation process has looked like in different parts of the world.
In a tribute to the former Norwegian border inspector who is locked up in a high-security Moscow prison on charges of espionage, artist Morten Traavik sets up dozens of Norwegian and Russian border poles in Berg’s home town Kirkenes.