Extremist lawmaker wants to rename Svalbard
Russia's ultranationalistic and xenophobic party leader Sergei Mironov proposes to Russify names and places across the Arctic, including the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard.
Inspired by new US president Donald Trump, Mironov says the Arctic Ocean should be renamed the 'Russian Arctic Ocean' and the archipelago of Franz Josef Land - the 'Lomonosov Land.'
He also wants to give Svalbard a new name. It should be named 'the Pomor Islands.'
The Pomors are people who traditionally lived along the White Sea. They were mostly fishermen and over centuries traded actively with the Norwegians.
Svalbard fully belongs to Norway. The Svalbard Treaty of 1920 grants citizens and companies from signatory nations the right to engage in economic activity, and the state-owned Russian company Arktikugol is today doing coal mining and tourism in the town of Barentsburg.
Russians call the archipelago 'Spitsbergen.' But that is not sufficient, Mironov argues.
"Russia's authority in the Arctic must be reflected in the names of places," the politician says in a comment posted on Telegram. He argues that Moscow should learn from Donald Trump, who recently announced the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to 'the Gulf of America.'
"Trump is taking his geopolitical battle to the field of geography and toponymy [and] Russia should also take an initiative in this field, first of all in the Arctic," the ultranationalist says.
"This is a life-important macro region for us that was acquired by our forefathers in ancient times. Russian authority must be reflected everywhere, including in geographical names."
Sergei Mironov is leader of the political party called 'A Just Russia - For Truth,' and a member of the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian Parliament.
He is known as fanatic and xenophobic. Over many years, he has been a close ally of the Kremlin and Vladimir Putin's United Russia Party.
Mironov strongly supports Russia's barbaric full-scale war against Ukraine. Previously, he warmly supported also Yevgeny Prigozhin and the Wagner Group. In 2022, he and his wife reportedly kidnapped two small Ukrainian children from occupied territories and subsequently adopted them.
The partly leader is on the sanctions lists of a big number of countries, among them the USA, EU, UK and Japan
Following the so-called parliament elections in 2021, the State Duma has been fully controlled by Putin's people and the legislative body today serves as a loyal mouthpiece of the dictator.
